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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


L  I  o 


THE  BOY  SETTLERS 


THE  SCRIBNER  SERIES 
FOR  YOUNG  PEOPLE 

EACH   WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS   IN   COLOR 
BOOKS  FOR  BOYS 

THE  MODERN  VIKINGS  By  H.  H.  Boyesen 

WILL  SHAKESPEARE'S  LITTLE  LAD        By  Imogen  Clark 
THE  BOY  SCOUT  and  Other  Stories  for  Boys 
STORIES  FOR  BOYS  By  Richard  Harding  Davis 

HANS  BRINKER,  or.  The  Silver  Skates 

By  Mary  Mapes  Dodge 

THE  HOOSKER  SCHOOL-BOY  By  Edward  Eggleston 

TRUE  TALES  OF  ARCTIC  HEROISM  IN  THE  NEW 

WORLD  By  Adolphus  W.  Greely 

THE  COURT  OF  KING  ARTHUR     By  William  Henry  Frost 
BY  PIKE  AND  DYKE 
WITH  LEE  IN  VIRGINIA 
WITH  WOLFE  IN  CANADA 

REDSKIN  AND  COWBOY  By  G.  A.  Henty 

AT  WAR  WITH  PONTIAC  By  Kirk  Munroe 

TOMMY  TROT'S  VISIT  TO   SANTA  CLAUS  and 
A  CAPTURED  SANTA  CLAUS  By  Thomas  Nelson  Page 

BOYS  OF  ST.  TIMOTHY'S  By  Arthur  Stanwood  Pier 

DAVID  BALFOUR 
KIDNAPPED 
TREASURE  ISLAND 

BLACK  ARROW  By  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 

AROUND  THE  WORLD  IN  EIGHTY  DAYS 
A  JOURNEY  TO  THE  CEIITRE  OF  THE  EARTH 
FROM   THE  EARTH  TO  THE  MOON 
TWENTY  THOUSAND  LEAGUES  UNDER  THE  SEA 

By  Jules  Vern« 

ON  THE  OLD  KEARSARGE 

IN  THE  WASP'S  NEST  By  Cyrus  Townsend  Brady 

THE  BOY  SETTLERS 

THE  BOYS  OF  FAIRPORT  By  Noah  Brooks 

THE  CONSCRIPT  OF  1613  By  Erckmann-Chatrian 

THE  STEAM-SHOVEL  MAN  Ey  Ralph  D.  Paine 

THE  MOUNTAIN  DIVIDE  By  Frank  II.  Spearman 

THE  STRANGE  GRAY  CANOE  By  Paul  G.  Tomlinson 

THE  ADVENTURES  OF  A  FRESHMAN      By  J.  L.  Williams 
JACK  HALL,  or.  The  School  Days  of  an  American  Boy 

By  Robert  Grant 

BOOKS  FOR  GIRLS 

THE  JANUARY  GIRL  By  Joslyn  Gray 

SMITH  COLLEGE  STORIES  By  Josephine  Daskani 

THE  HALLOWELL  PARTNERSHIP 

By  Katharine  Holland  Brown 

MY  WONDERFUL  VISIT  By  Elizabeth  Hill 

SARAH  CREWE,  or.  What  Happened  at  Miss  Minchin's 

r.y  Frances  Hodgson  Burnett 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 


Sure  enough,  there  they  "were,  twenty-five  or  thirty  Indians. 


THE  BOY  SETTLERS; 


A  STORY  OF  EARLY  TIMES  IN  KANSAS 


NOAHi BROOKS 


r 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  W.  A.  ROGERS 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES^SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


COPYMGHT,  1891,  BY 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


COPTBIQKT,   1919,  BY 

CHARLES  C.  UPHAM 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


112.3 


TO 

3ojjn  0mnleaf  TOjtttter 

patriotic  songs  were  the  inspiration  of  the 
prototypes  of 

THE  BOY  SETTLERS 
Thte  little  book  is  affectionately  inscribed 


CONTENTS. 


OBAFTEB  PASS 

L   THE  SETTLERS,  AND  WHENCE  THEY  CAME  ...      1 

IL  THE  FIRB  SPREADS 9 

HI.   Ow  THE  DISPUTED  TERRITORY 20 

IV.   AMONG  THE  DELA WARES 86 

V.   TIDINGS  FROM  THE  FRONT 63 

VI.   WESTWARD  Ho  ! 62 

V1L   AT  THE  DIVIDING  OF  THE  WAYS .72 

VIII.  THE  SETTLERS  AT  HOME 86 

IX.   SETTING  THE  STAKES 96 

X.   DRAWING  THE  FIRST  FURROW 106 

XI.  AN  INDIAN  TRAIL 116 

XIL   HOUSE-BUILDING 126 

XIII.  LOST! 134 

XTV.   MORE  HOUSE-BUILDING 150 

XV.   PLAY  COMES  AFTER  WORK 168 

XVL   A  GREAT  DISASTER 181 

XVII.  THE  WOLF  AT  THE  DOOR 187 

XVIIL   DISCOURAGEMENT 200 

.XIX.   DOWN  THE  BIG  MUDDY 216 

XX.   STRANDED  NEAR  HOME 286 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Sure  enough,  there  they  were,  twenty-five  or 

thirty  Indians Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

The  polls  at  Libertyville.     The  Woburn  man  is 

"hoisted"  over  the  cabin 70 

Lost ! 146 

He  gentlj-  touched  the  animal  with   the   toe 

of  his  boot .  .  176 


THE   BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  SETTLERS,   AND  WHENCE  THEY  CAME. 

THERE  were  five  of  them,  ail  told;  three  boys 
and  two  men.  I  have  mentioned  the  boys  first 
because  there  were  more  of  them,  and  we  shall 
hear  most  from  them  before  we  have  got  through 
with  this  truthful  tale.  They  lived  in  the  town 
of  Dixon,  on  the  Rock  River,  in  Lee  County, 
Illinois.  Look  on  the  map,  and  you  will  find 
this  place  at  a  point  where  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  crosses  the  Rock ;  for  this  is  a  real  town 
with  real  people.  Nearly  sixty  years  ago,  when 
there  were  Indians  all  over  that  region  of  the 
country,  ard  the  red  men  were  numerous  where 
the  flourishing  States  of  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Wis- 
consin are  now,  John  Dixon  kept  a  little  ferry  at 
the  point  of  which  I  am  now  speaking,  and  it  was 
known  as  Dixon's  Ferry.  Even  when  he  was  not 
an  old  man,  Dixon  was  noted  for  his  long  and 
flowing  white  hair,  and  the  Indians  called  him 
Na-chu-sa,  "the  White-haired."  In  1832  the  Sac 

1 


2  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

tribe  of  Indians,  with  their  chief  Black  Hawk,  rose 
in  rebellion  against  the  Government,  and  then  there 
happened  what  is  now  called  the  Black  Hawk  war. 

In  that  war  many  men  who  afterwards  became 
famous  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  were 
engaged  in  behalf  of  the  government.  One  of 
these  was  Zachary  Taylor,  afterwards  better  known 
as  "  Rough  and  Ready,"  who  fought  bravely  in  the 
Mexican  war  and  subsequently  became  President 
of  the  United  States.  Another  was  Robert  Ander- 
son, who,  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, in  1861,  commanded  the  Union  forces  in  Fort 
Sumter  when  it  was  first  fired  upon.  Another  was 
Jefferson  Davis,  who,  in  the  course  of  human 
events,  became  President  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy. A  fourth  man,  destined  to  be  more 
famous  than  any  of  the  others,  was  Abraham  Lin- 
coln. The  first  three  of  these  were  officers  in  the 
army  of  the  United  States.  Lincoln  was  at  first  a 
private  soldier,  but  was  afterwards  elected  captain 
of  his  company,  with  whom  he  had  come  to  the 
rescue  of  the  white  settlers  from  the  lower  part 
of  the  State. 

The  war  did  not  last  long,  and  there  was  not 
much  glory  gained  by  anybody  in  it.  Black  Hawk 
was  beaten,  and  that  country  had  peace  ever  after. 
For  many  years,  and  even  unto  this  day,  I  make  no 
doubt,  the  early  settlers  of  the  Rock  River  country 
loved  to  tell  stories  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  of 
their  own  sufferings,  exploits,  hardships,  and  ad- 


WHENCE  THEY  CAME.  3 

ventures.  Father  Dixcn,  as  he  was  called,  did 
not  choose  to  talk  much  about  himself,  for  he 
was  a  modest  old  gentleman,  and  was  not  given, 
as  they  used  to  say,  to  "  blowing  his  own  horn," 
but  his  memory  was  a  treasure-house  of  delightful 
anecdotes  and  reminiscences  of  those  old  times ; 
and  young  and  old  would  sit  around  the  comfort- 
able stove  of  a  country  store,  during  a  dull  winter 
evening,  drinking  in  tales  of  Indian  warfare  and 
of  the  "  old  settlers  "  that  had  been  handed  down 
from  generation  to  generation. 

It  is  easy  to  see  how  boys  brought  up  in  an 
atmosphere  like  this,  rich  in  traditions  of  the  long- 
pa  ":t  in  which  the  early  settlement  of  the  country 
.  gured,  should  become  imbued  with  the  same  spirit 
of  adventure  that  had  brought  their  fathers  from 
the  older  States  to  this  new  region  of  the  West. 
Boys  played  at  Indian  warfare  over  the  very 
ground  on  which  they  had  learned  to  believe  the 
Sacs  and  Foxes  had  skirmished  years  and  years 
before.  They  loved  to  hear  of  Black  Hawk  and 
his  brother,  the  Prophet,  as  he  was  called ;  and  I 
cannot  tell  you  with  what  reverence  they  regarded 
Father  Dixon,  the  white-haired  old  man  who  had 
actually  talked  and  traded  with  the  famous  Indians, 
and  whose  name  had  been  given  him  as  a  title  of 
respect  by  the  great  Black  Hawk  himself. 

Among  the  boys  who  drank  in  this  sort  of  lore 
were  Charlie  and  Alexander  Howell  and  their 
cousin  Oscar  Bryant.  Charlie,  when  he  had  ar- 


4  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

rived  at  his  eighteenth  birthday,  esteemed  himself 
a  man,  ready  to  put  away  childish  things ;  and  yet, 
in  his  heart,  he  dearly  loved  the  traditions  of  the 
Indian  occupation  of  the  country,  and  wished  that 
he  had  been  born  earlier,  so  that  he  might  have 
had  a  share  in  the  settlement  of  the  Rock  River 
region,  its  reclamation  from  the  wilderness,  and 
the  chase  of  the  wild  Indian.  As  for  Alexander, 
commonly  known  as  "Sandy,"  he  had  worn  out 
a  thick  volume  of  Cooper'^  novels  before  he  was 
fifteen  years  old,  at  which  interesting  point  in  his 
career  I  propose  to  introduce  him  to  you.  Oscar 
was  almost  exactly  as  many  years  and  days  old  as 
his  cousin.  But  two  boys  more  unlike  in  appear- 
ance could  not  be  found  anywhere  in  a  long  &i  n- 
mer  day.  Sandy  was  short,  stubbed,  and  stocky 
in  build.  His  face  was  florid  and  freckled,  and 
his  hair  and  complexion,  like  his  name,  were 
sandy.  Oscar  was  tall,  slim,  wiry,  with  a  long, 
oval  face,  black  hair,  and  so  lithe  in  his  motions 
that  he  was  invariably  cast  for  the  part  of  the 
leading  Indian  in  all  games  that  required  an  abo- 
riginal character. 

Mr.  Howell  carried  on  a  transportation  business, 
until  the  railroads  came  into  the  country  and  his 
occupation  was  gone.  Then  he  began  to  consider 
seriously  the  notion  of  going  further  west  with 
his  boys  to  get  for  them  the  same  chances  of  early 
forestalling  the  settlement  of  the  country  that  he 
had  had  in  Illinois.  In  the  West,  at  least  in  those 


WHENCE  THEY  CAME.  5 

days,  nearly  everybody  was  continually  looking 
for  a  yet  further  West  to  which  they  might  emi- 
grate. Charlie  Howell  was  now  a  big  and  willing, 
good-natured  boy :  he  ought  to  be  striking  out  for 
himself  and  getting  ready  to  earn  his  own  living. 
At  least,  so  his  father  thought. 

Mr.  Bryant  was  engaged  in  a  profitable  business, 
and  he  had  no  idea  of  going  out  into  another 
West  for  himself  or  his  boy.  Oscar  was  likely  to 
be  a  scholar,  a  lawyer,  or  a  minister,  perhaps. 
Even  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  had  written  "a 
piece"  which  the  editor  of  the  Dixon  Telegraph 
had  thought  worthy  of  the  immortality  of  print 
in  his  columns. 

But  about  this  time,  the  Northern  States  were 
deeply  stirred  by  the  struggle  in  the  new  Terri- 
tory of  Kansas  to  decide  whether  freedom  or  slav- 
ery should  be  established  therein.  This  was  in 
1854  and  thereabout.  The  Territory  had  been 
left  open  and  unoccupied  for  a  long  time.  Now 
settlers  were  pouring  into  it  from  adjacent  States, 
and  the  question  whether  freedom  should  be  the 
rule,  or  whether  slave-holding  was  to  be  tolerated, 
became  a  very  important  one.  Missouri  and  Ar- 
kansas, being  the  States  nearest  to  Kansas,  and 
holding  slavery  to  be  a  necessity,  furnished  the 
largest  number  of  emigrants  who  went  to  vote  in 
favor  of  bringing  slavery  into  the  new  Territory ; 
but  others  of  the  same  way  of  thinking  came  from 
more  distant  States,  even  as  far  off  as  South  Care- 


6  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

lina,  all  bent  on  voting  for  slavery  in  the  laws  that 
were  to  be  made.  For  the  most  part,  these  people 
from  the  slave  States  did  not  go  prepared  to  make 
their  homes  in  Kansas  or  Nebraska ;  for  some  went 
to  the  adjoining  Territory  of  Nebraska,  which  was 
also  ready  to  have  slavery  voted  up  or  down. 
The  newcomers  intended  to  stay  just  long  enough 
to  vote  and  then  return  to  their  own  homes. 

The  people  of  the  free  States  of  the  North  heard 
of  all  this  with  much  indignation.  They  had 
always  supposed  that  the  new  Territories  were  to 
be  free  from  slavery.  They  saw  that  if  slavery 
should  be  allowed  there,  by  and  by,  when  the  two 
Territories  would  become  States,  they  would  be 
slave  States,  and  then  there  would  be  more  slave 
States  than  free  States  in  the  Union.  So  thej" 
held  meetings,  made  speeches,  and  passed  resolu- 
tions, denouncing  this  sort  of  immigration  as  wrong 
and  wicked.  Then  immigrants  from  Iowa,  Illi- 
nois, and  other  Northern  States,  even  as  far  off 
as  Massachusetts,  sold  their  homes  and  household 
goods  and  started  for  the  Promised  Land,  as  many 
of  them  thought  it  to  be.  For  the  men  in  Kansas 
who  were  opposed  to  slavery  wrote  and  sent  far 
and  wide  papers  and  pamphlets,  setting  forth  in 
glowing  colors  the  advantages  of  the  new  and 
beautiful  country  beyond  the  Missouri  River,  open 
to  the  industry  and  enterprise  of  everybody.  Soon 
the  roads  and  highways  of  Iowa  were  dotted  with 
white-topped  wagons  of  immigrants  journeying  to 


WHENCE  THEY  CAME.  7 

Kansas,  and  long  lines  of  caravans,  with  families 
and  with  small  knots  of  men,  stretched  their  way 
across  the  country  nearest  to  the  Territory. 

Some  of  these  passed  through  Dixon,  and  the 
boys  gazed  with  wonder  at  the  queer  inscriptions 
that  were  painted  on  the  canvas  covers  of  the 
wagons ;  they  longed  to  go  with  the  immigrants, 
and  taste  the  sweets  of  a  land  which  was  repre- 
sented to  be  full  of  wild  flowers,  game  in  great 
abundance,  and  fine  streams,  and  well-wooded  hills 
not  far  away  from  the  water.  They  had  heard 
their  elders  talk  of  the  beauties  of  Kansas^  and  of 
the  great  outrage  that  was  to  be  committed  on  that 
fair  land  by  carrying  slavery  into  it ;  and  although 
they  did  not  know  much  about  the  politics  of  the 
case,  they  had  a  vague  notion  that  they  would  like 
to  have  a  hand  in  the  exciting  business  that  was 
going  on  in  Kansas. 

Both  parties  to  this  contest  thought  they  were 
right.  Men  who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  slave 
States  believed  that  slavery  was  a  good  thing  — 
good  for  the  country,  good  for  the  slave-owner, 
and  even  good  for  the  slave.  They  could  not 
understand  how  anybody  should  think  differently 
from  them.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  those  who 
had  never  owned  slaves,  and  who  had  been  born 
and  brought  up  in  the  free  States,  could  not  be 
brought  to  look  upon  slavery  as  anything  but  a 
very  wicked  thing.  For  their  part,  they  were  will- 
ing (at  least,  some  of  them  were)  to  fight  rather 


8  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

than  consent  that  the  right  of  one  man  to  own 
another  man  should  be  recognized  in  the  Territo- 
ries of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  Some  of  these  started 
at  once  for  the  debatable  land ;  others  helped  their 
neighbors  to  go,  and  many  others  stayed  at  home 
and  talked  about  it. 

Mrs.  Bryant,  Oscar's  mother,  said:  "Dear  me, 
I  am  tired  and  sick  of  hearing  about  'bleeding 
Kansas.'  I  do  wish,  husband,  you  would  find 
something  else  to  talk  about  before  Oscar.  You 
have  got  him  so  worked  up  that  I  shouldn't  be  the 
least  bit  surprised  if  he  were  to  start  off  with  some 
of  those  tired-looking  immigrants  that  go  traipsing 
through  the  town  day  by  day."  Mrs.  Bryant  was 
growing  anxious,  now  that  her  husband  was  so 
much  excited  about  the  Kansas-Nebraska  struggle, 
as  it  was  called,  he  could  think  of  nothing  else. 


THE  FIRE  SPREADS. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  FIRE  SPREADS. 

ONE  fine  morning  in  May,  Mr.  Bryant  was  stand- 
ing at  his  front  gate  watching  for  his  brother-in- 
law,  Mr.  Howell,  to  come  down  the  street. 

He  held  a  newspaper  in  his  hand,  and  with  this, 
loosely  rolled,  he  was  impatiently  tapping  on  the 
gate  as  Mr.  Howell  drew  near.  Evidently  some- 
thing had  happened  to  disturb  him. 

"  See  here,  Aleck,"  he  exclaimed,  as  soon  as  his 
brother-in-law  was  within  the  sound  of  his  voice, 
"I  can  stand  this  sort  of  thing  no  longer.  I'm 
bound  to  go  to  Kansas.  I've  been  thinking  it 
over,  and  I  have  about  made  up  my  mind  to  go. 
Brubaker  will  take  my  store  and  the  good-will  of 
the  concern.  Oscar  is  wild  to  go,  and  his  mother 
is  perfectly  able  to  take  care  of  the  house  while  I 
am  getting  ready  for  her  to  come  out.  What 
d'ye  say  ?  Will  you  go  too  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Howell,  slowly,  "  you  nearly 
take  my  breath  away !  What's  happened  to  stir 
you  up  so  ?  " 

"Just  listen  to  this!"  cried  the  other,  "just 
listen!"  and,  unfolding  his  newspaper,  he  read, 


10  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

with  glowing  cheeks  and  kindling  eyes,  an  account 
of  an  attack  made  by  some  of  the  "pro-slavery 
men,"  as  they  were  named,  on  a  party  of  free- 
State  immigrants  who  had  attempted  to  cross  the 
river  near  Kansas  City.  His  voice  trembled  with 
excitement,  and  when  he  had  finished  reading,  he 
asked  his  companion  what  he  thought  of  that. 

Mr.  Howell  looked  pensively  down  the  street, 
now  embowered  with  the  foliage  of  early  summer, 
noted  the  peaceful  aspect  of  the  village,  and  the 
tranquil  picture  which  gardens,  cottages,  and  saun- 
tering groups  of  school-children  presented,  and 
then  said  slowly,  "  I  never  was  much  of  a  hand 
at  shooting,  Charles,  leastways,  shooting  at  folks ; 
and  I  don't  know  that  I  could  take  steady  aim  at 
a  man,  even  if  I  knew  he  was  a  Border  Ruffian 
out  gunning  for  me.  But  I'm  with  you,  Charles. 
Charlie  and  Sandy  can  do  a  heap  sight  better  in 
Kansas,  after  things  get  settled,  than  they  can 
here.  This  place  is  too  old;  there's  too  much 
competition,  and  the  boys  will  not  have  any  show 
if  they  stay  here.  But  what  does  Amanda  say  ?  " 

Now,  Amanda  was  Mr.  Bryant's  wife,  Mr.  Aleck 
Howell's  sister.  When  Aleck  asked  this  question, 
the  two  men  looked  at  each  other  for  a  moment, 
queerly  and  without  speaking. 

44  Well,  she'll  hate  to  part  with  Oscar ;  he's  the 
apple  of  her  eye,  as  it  were.  But  I  guess  she  will 
listen  to  reason.  When  I  read  this  piece  in  the 
paper  to  her  this  morning,  at  the  breakfast-table, 


THE  FIRE  SPREADS.  11 

she  was  as  mad  as  a  wet  hen.  As  for  Oscar,  he's 
so  fired  up  about  it  that  he  is  down  in  the  wood-shed 
chopping  wood  to  blow  off  steam.  Hear  him?" 
And  Mr.  Bryant  laughed  quietly,  notwithstanding 
his  rising  anger  over  the  news  of  the  day. 

At  that  moment  Sandy  came  whooping  around 
the  corner,  intent  on  overtaking  a  big  yellow  dog, 
his  constant  companion,  —  Bose  by  name,  —  who 
bounded  along  far  in  advance  of  the  boy.  "  See 
here,  Sandy,"  said  his  uncle,  "  how  would  you  like 
to  go  to  Kansas  with  your  father,  Oscar,  Charlie, 
and  myself?" 

"To  Kansas?  shooting  buffaloes,  deer,  Indians, 
and  all  that  ?  To  Kansas  ?  Oh,  come,  now,  Uncle 
Charles,  you  don't  mean  it." 

"  But  I  do  mean  it,  my  laddie,"  said  the  elder 
man,  affectionately  patting  the  freckled  cheek  of 
the  lad.  "  I  do  mean  it,  and  if  you  can  persuade 
your  father  to  go  along  and  take  you  and  Charlie 
with  him,  we'll  make  up  a  party  —  just  we  five  — 
that  will  scare  the  Border  Ruffians  'way  into  the 
middle  of  next  year."  Then,  with  a  more  serious 
air,  he  added,  "  This  is  a  fight  for  freedom,  my 
boy,  and  every  man  and  every  boy  who  believes  in 
God  and  Liberty  can  find  a  chance  to  help.  I'm 
sure  we  can."  This  he  said  with  a  certain  sparkle 
of  his  eye  that  may  have  meant  mischief  to  any 
Border  Ruffian  that  might  have  been  there  to  see 
and  hear. 

As   for   Sandy,  he  turned  two  or  three  hand- 


12  THE  SOT  SETTLERS. 

springs  by  way  of  relieving  his  feelings,  then, 
having  once  more  assured  himself  that  the  two 
men  had  serious  thoughts  of  migrating  to  Kansas, 
he  rushed  off  to  the  wood-shed  to  carry  the  won- 
derful news  to  Oscar.  Dropping  his  axe,  the  lad 
listened  with  widened  eyes  to  the  story  that  Sandy 
had  to  tell. 

"  Do  you  know,  Sandy,"  he  said,  with  an  air  of 
great  wisdom,  "  I  thought  there  was  something  in 
the  wind.  Oh,  I  never  saw  father  so  roused  as  he 
was  when  he  read  that  story  in  the  Chicago  Press 
and  Tribune  this  morning.  Why,  I  thought  he'd 
just  get  up  and  howl  when  he  had  read  it  out  to 
mother.  Jimmini !  Do  you  really  suppose  that 
he  will  go?  And  take  us?  And  Uncle  Aleck? 
Oh,  wouldn't  that  be  too  everlastingly  bully  for 
anything  ?  "  Oscar,  as  you  will  see,  was  given  to 
the  use  of  slang,  especially  when  under  great  ex- 
citement. The  two  boys  rushed  back  to  the  gate, 
where  the  brothers-in-law  were  still  talking  eagerly 
and  in  undertones. 

"  If  your  mother  and  Aunt  Amanda  will  consent, 
I  guess  we  will  go,"  said  Mr.  Bryant,  with  a  smile 
on  his  face  as  he  regarded  the  flushed  cheeks  and 
eager  eyes  of  Sandy  and  Oscar.  Sandy's  father 
added :  "  And  I'll  answer  for  your  mother,  my 
son.  She  and  I  have  talked  this  thing  over  many 
a  time,  more  on  your  account  and  Charlie's  than 
for  the  sake  of  'bleeding  Kansas,'  however.  I'm 
bound  to  say  that.  Every  man  is  in  honor  bound 


THE  FIRE  SPREADS.  13 

to  do  his  duty  by  the  country  and  by  the  good 
cause ;  but  I  have  got  to  look  after  my  boys  first." 
And  the  father  lovingly  laid  his  hand  on  Sandy's 
sturdy  shoulder.  "  Do  you  think  you  could  fight, 
if  the  worst  comes  to  the  worst,  Sandy,  boy  ?  " 

Of  course  the  lad  protested  confidently  that  he 
could  fight ;  certainly  he  could  protect  his  rights 
and  his  father's  rights,  even  with  a  gun,  if  that 
should  be  found  necessary.  But  he  admitted  that, 
on  the  whole,  he  would  rather  shoot  buffaloes  and 
antelope,  both  of  which  species  of  large  game  he 
had  already  learned  were  tolerably  plentiful  in 
Kansas. 

"  Just  think  of  it,  Oscar,  we  might  have  some 
real  Indian-fighting  out  there,  like  that  Father 
Dixon  and  the  rest  of  the  old  settlers  had  in  the 
time  of  the  Black  Hawk  war." 

His  father  assured  him,  however,  that  there  was 
no  longer  any  danger  from  the  red  man  in  Kansas. 
The  wild  Indians  were  now  far  out  on  the  frontier, 
beyond  the  region  to  which  emigrants  would  prob- 
ably go  in  search  of  homestead  lands  for  settle- 
ment. Sandy  looked  relieved  at  this  explanation. 
He  was  not  anxious  for  fighting  with  anybody. 
Fun  was  more  to  his  liking. 

The  two  mothers,  when  they  were  informed  of 
the  decision  of  the  male  members  of  the  family, 
made  very  little  opposition  to  the  emigration 
scheme.  In  fact,  Mrs.  Ho  well  had  really  felt  for 
some  time  past  that  her  boys  would  be  better  pro- 


14  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

vided  for  in  a  new  country.  She  had  been  one  oi 
the  "  old  settlers  "  of  Dixon,  having  been  brought 
out  from  the  interior  of  New  York  when  she  and 
her  brother  were  small  children.  She  had  the 
same  spirit  of  adventure  that  he  had,  and,  although 
she  remembered  very  well  the  privations  and  the 
discomforts  of  those  early  days,  it  was  more  with 
amusement  than  sorrow  that  she  recalled  them  to 
mind,  now  that  they  were  among  the  traditions  of 
long-past  years.  The  two  young  Howells  were 
never  weary  of  hearing  their  mother  teil  of  the 
time  when  she  killed  a  wildcat  with  her  father's 
rifle,  or  of  her  walking  fifteen  miles  and  back  to 
buy  herself  a  bonnet-ribbon  to  wear  to  her  first 
ball  in  the  court-house.  Now  her  silent  influence 
made  it  easier  for  the  Kansas  Exodus  (as  they 
already  called  their  scheme)  to  be  accepted  all 
around. 

The  determination  of  the  two  families  to  migrate 
made  some  stir  in  the  town.  It  was  yet  a  small 
place,  and  everybody  knew  every  other  body's 
business.  The  Bryants  and  Howells  were  among 
the  "  old  families,"  and  their  momentous  step 
created  a  little  ripple  of  excitement  among  their 
friends  and  acquaintances.  The  boys  enjoyed  the 
talk  and  the  gossip  that  arose  around  them,  and 
already  considered  themselves  heroes  in  a  small 
way.  With  envious  eyes  and  eager  faces,  their 
comrades  surrounded  them,  wherever  they  went, 
asking  questions  about  their  outfit,  their  plans, 


THE  FIRE  SPBEADS.  15 

and  their  future  movements.  Every  boy  in  Dixon 
looked  on  the  three  prospective  boy  settlers  as  the 
most  fortunate  of  all  their  young  playfellows. 

"I  wish  my  father  would  catch  the  'Kansas 
fever,'  "  said  Hiram  Fender,  excitedly.  "  Don't 
you  suppose  your  father  could  give  it  to  him, 
Charlie  ?  Do  you  suppose  your  uncle  would  take 
me  along  if  Dad  would  let  me  go  ?  Oh,  wouldn't 
that  be  just  gaudy,  if  I  could  go!  Then  there 
would  be  four  of  us  boys.  Try  it  on  him." 

But  the  two  families  resolutely  attended  to  their 
own  business,  asking  help  from  nobody,  and  not 
even  so  much  as  hinting  to  anybody  that  it  would 
be  a  good  thing  for  others  to  go  with  them  to  the 
Promised  Land.  The  three  boys  were  speedily  in 
the  midst  of  preparations  for  their  migration.  It 
was  now  well  along  in  the  middle  of  May.  If  they 
were  to  take  up  land  claims  in  Kansas  and  get  in 
a  crop,  they  had  no  time  to  spare.  The  delightful 
excitement  of  packing,  of  buying  arms  and  ammu- 
nition, and  of  winding  up  all  the  small  concerns 
of  their  life  in  Dixon  made  the  days  pass  swiftly 
by.  There  were  all  the  details  of  tents  for  camp- 
ing-out, provisions  for  the  march,  and  rough  cloth- 
ing and  walking  gear  for  the  new  life  beyond  to 
be  looked  after. 

Some  of  the  notions  of  the  boys,  in  regard  to 
what  was  needed  and  what  was  to  be  expected 
from  the  land  beyond,  were  rather  crude.  And 
perhaps  their  fathers  were  not  in  all  cases  so  wise 


16  THE  SOY  SETTLERS. 

as  they  thought  themselves.  The  boys,  however, 
cherished  the  idea  that  absolutely  everything  they 
should  require  in  Kansas  must  be  carried  from 
Illinois.  "  Why,"  said  the  practical  Mr.  Howell, 
"  if  we  cannot  buy  ploughs,  cattle,  and  seed,  cheaper 
in  Missouri  than  we  can  here,  we  can  at  least  save 
the  labor  and  cost  of  transportation.  We  don't 
want  to  haul  a  year's  provisions,  either.  We  ex- 
pect to  raise  something  to  eat,  don't  we?" 

Charlie,  to  whom  this  remonstrance  was  ad- 
dressed, replied,  "  Well,  of  course  we  can  raise 
some  garden  truck,  and  I  suppose  we  can  buy 
bacon  and  flour  cheaper  in  Missouri  than  here." 

"  Then  there's  the  game,"  interrupted  Oscar  and 
Sandy,  both  in  one  breath.  "Governor  Robin- 
son's book  says  that  the  country  is  swarming  with 
game,"  added  Sandy,  excitedly. 

The  boys  had  devoured  a  little  book  by  Mr. 
Robinson,  the  free-State  Governor  of  Kansas,  in 
which  the  richness  of  the  Promised  Land  was 
glowingly  set  forth. 

"Much  time  we  shall  have  to  shoot  buffaloes 
and  antelope  when  we  are  breaking  up  the  sod  and 
planting  corn,"  Mr.  Howell  answered  with  a  shade 
of  sarcasm  in  his  voice. 

"  And  we  may  have  to  fire  at  bigger  game  than 
either  of  those,"  added  Mr.  Bryant,  grimly. 

"  Border  Ruffians  ?  "  asked  Sandy,  with  a  feeble 
attempt  at  a  grin.  His  mother  shuddered  and 
hastily  went  out  of  the  room.  The  Kansas  scheme 


THE  FIRE  SPREADS.  17 

seemed  no  longer  pleasant  to  her,  when  she  read 
the  dreadful  stories  of  violence  and  bloodshed  with 
which  some  of  the  Western  newspapers  were -teem- 
ing. But  it  was  settled  that  most  of  the  tools 
needed  for  farming  could  oe  bought  better  in 
Missouri  than  in  Illinois ;  the  long  haul  would  be 
saved,  and  the  horses  with  which  they  were  to 
start  could  be  exchanged  for  oxen  to  good  advan- 
tage when  they  reached  "the  river."  They  had 
already  adopted  the  common  phrase,  "  the  river," 
for  the  Missouri  River,  then  generally  used  by 
people  emigrating  westward. 

"  But  perhaps  the  Missourians  will  not  sell  you 
anything  when  they  know  that  you  are  free-State 
men,"  suggested  Mrs.  Bryant,  timidly,  for  this  was 
a  family  council. 

"  Oh,  well,"  answered  Mr.  Howell,  sturdily,  "  I'll 
risk  that.  I  never  saw  a  man  yet  with  anything 
to  sell  who  wouldn't  sell  it  when  the  money  was 
shaken  in  his  face.  The  newspapers  paint  those 
border  men  pretty  black,  I  know ;  but  if  they  stop 
to  ask  a  man's  politics  before  they  make  a  bargain 
with  him,  they  must  be  queer  cattle.  They  are 
more  than  human  or  less  than  human,  not  Ameri- 
cans at  all,  if  they  do  business  in  that  way."  In 
the  end  they  found  that  Mr.  Howell  was  entirely 
right. 

All  was  settled  at  last,  and  that,  too,  in  some 
haste,  for  the  season  was  rapidly  advancing  when 
planting  must  be  attended  to,  if  they  were  to  plant 


18  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

that  year  for  the  fall  harvest.  From  the  West 
they  heard  reports  of  hosts  of  people  pouring  into 
the  new  Territory,  of  land  being  in  great  demand, 
and  of  the  best  claims  near  the  Missouri  being 
taken  by  early  emigrants.  They  must  be  in  a 
hurry  if  they  were  to  get  a  fair  chance  with  the 
rest  and  a  fair  start  on  their  farm,  —  a  farm  yet 
existing  only  in  their  imagination. 

Their  wagon,  well  stored  with  clothing  and  pro- 
visions, a  few  books,  Oscar's  violin,  a  medicine 
chest,  powder,  shot,  and  rifle-balls,  and  an  assort- 
ment of  odds  and  ends,  —  the  wagon,  so  long  a 
magical  repository  of  hopes  and  the  most  delightful 
anticipations,  was  ready  at  last.  It  stood  at  the 
side  gate  of  Mr.  Bryant's  home,  with  a  "spike 
team  "  (two  horses  at  the  pole,  and  one  horse  for 
a  leader)  harnessed.  It  was  a  serious,  almost  sol- 
emn, moment.  Now  that  the  final  parting  had 
come,  the  wrench  with  which  the  two  families 
were  to  be  broken  up  seemed  harder  than  any  of 
the  members  had  expected.  The  two  mothers, 
bravely  keeping  up  smiling  faces,  went  about  the 
final  touches  of  preparations  for  the  lads'  departure 
and  the  long  journey  of  their  husbands. 

Mr.  Howell  mounted  the  wagon  with  Sandy  by 
his  side ;  Mr.  Bryant  took  his  seat  with  the  other 
two  boys  in  an  open  buggy,  which  they  were  to 
drive  to  "  the  river "  and  there  trade  for  a  part 
oi  their  outfit.  Fond  and  tearful  kisses  had  been 
exchanged  and  farewells  spoken.  They  drove  off 


THE  FIRE  SPREADS  19 

into  the  West.  The  two  women  stood  at  the  gate, 
gazing  after  them  with  tear-dimme^  eves  as  long 
as  they  were  in  sight;  and  when  thf  little  train 
disappeared  behind  the  first  swale  of  Hhe  prairie, 
they  burst  into  tears  and  went  intc  the  uuse 
which  was  now  left  unto  them  desolate. 

It  was  a  quiet  party  that  drove  ov^er  the  prairie 
that  bright  and  beautiful  morning.  The  two  boys 
in  the  buggy  spoke  occasionally  in  far-off-sounding 
voices  about  indifferent  things  that  attracted  their 
attention  as  they  drove  along.  Mr.  Howell  held 
the  reins,  with  a  certain  stern  sense  of  duty  on 
his  dark  and  handsome  face.  Sandy  sat  silently  by 
his  side,  the  big  tears  coursing  down  his  freckled 
cheeks. 


20  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ON  THE  DISPUTED  TEEKITOEY. 

THE  straggling,  unkempt,  and  forlorn  town  of 
Parkville,  Missouri,  was  crowded  with  strangers 
when  the  emigrants  arrived  there  after  a  long  and 
toilsome  drive  thrcugh  Iowa.  They  had  crossed 
the  Mississippi  from  Illinois  into  Iowa,  at  Fulton, 
on  the  eastern  shore,  and  after  stopping  to  rest  for 
a  day  or  two  in  Clinton,  a  pretty  village  ou  the 
opposite  bank,  had  pushed  on,  their  faces  ever 
set  westward.  Then,  turning  in  a  southwesterly 
direction,  they  travelled  across  the  lower  part  of 
the  State,  and  almost  before  they  knew  it  they 
were  on  the  sacred  soil  of  Missouri,  the  dangers  of 
entering  which  had  been  pictured  to  them  all  along 
the  route.  They  had  been  warned  by  the  friendly 
settlers  in  Iowa  to  avoid  St.  Joseph,  one  of  the 
crossings  from  Missouri  into  Kansas ;  it  was  a  nest 
of  Border  Ruffians,  so  they  were  told,  and  they 
would  surely  have  trouble.  They  must  also  steer 
clear  of  Leavenworth ;  for  that  town  was  the  head- 
quarters of  a  number  of  Missourians  whose  names 
were  already  terrible  all  over  the  Northern  States, 
from  Kansas  to  Massachusetts  Bay. 


ON  THE  DISPUTED   TERRITORY.  21 

"  But  there  is  the  military  at  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,"  replied  Mr.  Bryant.  "  Surely  they  will 
protect  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  are 
peaceful  and  well-behaved.  We  are  only  peace- 
able immigrants." 

"Pshaw!"  answered  an  Iowa  man.  "All  the 
army  officers  in  this  part  of  the  country  are  pro- 
slavery  men.  They  are  in  sympathy  with  the  pro- 
slavery  men,  anyhow,  and  if  they  had  been  sent 
here  to  keep  free-State  men  out  of  the  Territory, 
they  couldn't  do  any  different  from  what  they  are 
doing.  It's  an  infernal  shame,  that's  what  it  is." 

Bryant  said  nothing  in  reply,  but  as  they  trudged 
along,  for  the  roads  were  very  bad,  and  they  could 
not  often  ride  in  their  vehicles  now,  his  face  grew 
dark  and  red  by  turns.  Finally  he  broke  out,  — 

"See  here,  Aleck,"  he  cried,  "I  don't  want  to 
sneak  into  the  Territory.  If  these  people  think 
they  can  scare  law-abiding  and  peaceable  citizens 
of  a  free  country  from  going  upon  the  land  of 
these  United  States,  we  might  just  as  well  fight 
first  as  last.  For  one,  I  will  not  be  driven  out  of 
a  country  that  I  have  got  just  as  much  right  to  as 
any  of  these  hot-headed  Missouri  fellows." 

His  brother-in-law  looked  troubled,  but  before 
he  could  speak  the  impetuous  and  fiery  Sandy 
said :  "  That's  the  talk,  Uncle  Charlie !  Let's  go 
in  by  the  shortest  way,  and  tackle  the  Border 
Ruffians  if  they  tackle  us.  Who's  afraid?"  And 
the  lad  bravely  handled  his  *•  pepper-box,"  as  his 


22  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

old-fashioned  five-barrelled  revolver  was  sportively 
called  by  the  men  of  those  days ;  for  the  modern 
revolver  with  one  barrel  for  all  the  chambers  of 
the  weapon  had  not  then  come  into  use.  "Who's 
afraid  ? "  he  repeated  fiercely,  looking  around. 
Everybody  burst  out  laughing,  and  the  valorous 
Sandy  looked  rather  crestfallen. 

"  I  am  afraid,  for  one,"  said  his  father.  "  I  want 
no  fighting,  no  bloodshed.  I  want  to  get  into  the 
Territory  and  get  to  work  on  our  claim,  just  as 
soon  as  possible ;  but  if  we  can't  get  there  without 
a  fight,  why  then,  I'll  fight.  But  I  ain't  seeking 
for  no  fight."  When  Aleck  Howell  was  excited, 
his  grammar  went  to  the  four  winds.  His  view 
of  the  situation  commended  itself  to  the  approval 
of  Oscar,  who  said  he  had  promised  his  mother 
that  he  would  avoid  every  appearance  of  hostile 
intention,  keep  a  civil  tongue  in  his  head,  have  his 
weapons  out  of  sight  and  his  powder  always  dry. 

The  emigrants  decided  to  go  into  Kansas  by 
way  of  Parkville. 

At  Claybank,  half-way  between  the  Iowa  line 
and  the  Missouri  River,  they  encountered  a  drover 
with  a  herd  of  cattle.  He  was  eager  to  dicker 
with  the  Kansas  emigrants,  and  offered  them  what 
they  considered  to  be  a  very  good  bargain  in  ex- 
changing oxen  for  their  horses.  They  were  now 
near  the  Territory,  and  the  rising  prices  of  almost 
everything  that  immigrants  required  warned  them 
that  they  were  not  far  from  the  point  where  an 


ON  THE  DISPUTED  TERRITORY.  23 

outfit  could  no  longer  be  bought  at  any  reasonable 
price.  The  boys  were  loth  to  part  with  their 
buggy;  for,  although  they  had  been  often  com- 
pelled to  go  afoot  through  some  of  the  worst  roads 
in  the  States  of  Iowa  and  Missouri,  they  had  clung 
to  the  notion  that  they  might  have  a  pair  of  horses 
to  take  into  the  Territory,  and,  while  the  buggy 
was  left  to  them,  they  had  a  refuge  in  times  of 
weariness  with  walking ;  and  these  were  rather 
frequent.  The  wagon  was  exchanged  for  another, 
suitable  for  oxen. 

The  immigrants  drove  gayly  into  Parkville.  They 
were  in  sight  of  the  Promised  Land.  The  Big 
Muddy,  as  Missourians  affectionately  call  the  tur- 
bid stream  that  gives  name  to  their  State,  rolled 
sluggishly  between  the  Parkville  shore  and  the 
low  banks  fringed  with  cottonwoods  that  were  the 
eastern  boundary  of  Kansas.  Looking  across,  they 
could  see  long  lines  of  white-covered  wagons,  level 
plains  dotted  with  tents,  and  the  rising  smoke  of 
many  fires,  where  people  who  had  gone  in  ahead 
of  them  were  cooking  their  suppers ;  for  they 
entered  Parkville  late  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  a 
commonplace-looking  view  of  Kansas,  after  all,  and 
not  at  all  like  what  the  lads  had  fancied  it  would 
be.  Sandy  very  emphatically  expressed  his  dis- 
appointment. 

"What  would  you  have,  Sandy?"  asked  his 
uncle,  with  some  amusement.  "Did  you  expect 
to  see  wild  honey  dripping  out  of  the  cottonwoods 


24  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

and  sycamores,  buffaloes  and  deer  standing  up  and 
waiting  to  be  shot  at,  and  a  farm  ready  to  be 
tilled?" 

"  Well,"  replied  the  boy,  a  little  shamefacedly, 
"  I  didn't  exactly  expect  to  see  all  those  things ; 
but  somehow  the  country  looks  awful  flat  and 
dull.  Don't  you  think  so  ?  " 

For  answer,  Mr.  Bryant  pointed  out  a  line  of 
blue  slopes  in  the  distance.  "Those  are  not  very 
high  hills,  my  boy,  to  be  sure,  but  they  are  on  the 
rolling  prairie  beyond,  and  as  soon  as  we  get  away 
from  the  river  we  shall  find  a  bluffy  and  diversified 
country,  I'll  warrant  you." 

"Yes;  don't  you  remember,"  broke  in  Oscar, 
eagerly,  "  Governor  Robinson's  book  told  all  about 
the  rolling  and  undulating  country  of  the  Terri- 
tory, and  the  streams  that  run  under  high  bluffs 
in  some  places  ?  " 

Sandy  admitted  that  this  was  true  of  the  book ; 
but  he  added,  "  Some  books  do  lie,  though." 

"Not  Governor  Robinson's  book,"  commented 
his  brother  Charlie,  with  a  slight  show  of  resent- 
ment. For  Charlie  had  made  a  study  of  the  re- 
ports from  the  Promised  Land. 

But  a  more  pressing  matter  was  the  attitude 
of  the  border-State  men  toward  the  free-State  emi- 
grants, and  the  question  of  making  the  necessary 
purchases  for  their  farming  scheme.  Parkville 
was  all  alive  with  people,  and  there  were  many 
border-State  men  among  them.  Some  of  these 


ON   THE  DISPUTED   TERRITORY.  25 

regarded  the  newcomers  with  unmistakable  hos- 
tility, noting  which,  Sandy  and  Oscar  took  good 
care  to  keep  near  their  two  grown-up  protectors  ; 
and  the  two  men  always  went  about  with  their 
weapons  within  easy  reaching  distance.  All  of  the 
Borderers  were  -pposed  to  any  more  free-State 
men  going  into  the  Territory ;  and  many  of  them 
were  disposed  to  stop  this  by  force,  if  necessary. 
At  one  time,  the  situation  looked  very  serious,  and 
Sandy  got  his  "pepper-box"  into  position.  But 
the  trouble  passed  away,  and  the  arrival  of  fifteen 
or  twenty  teams,  accompanied  by  a  full  comple- 
ment of  men,  checked  a  rising  storm  of  wrath. 

From  Platte  City,  a  short  distance  up  the  river, 
however,  came  doleful  and  distressing  stories  of 
the  ill-treatment  of  the  free-State  men  who  had 
gone  that  way.  They  were  harassed  and  hindered, 
and,  in  some  cases,  their  teams  were  deliberately 
turned  about  and  driven  back  on  the  road  by 
which  they  had  come.  It  was  useless  to  remon- 
strate when  the  rifles  of  a  dozen  men  were  levelled 
at  the  would-be  immigrants.  But  our  travellers  in 
Parkville  heard  a  good  story  of  the  bravery  of  one 
free-State  man  who  had  been  refused  transportation 
across  the  ferry  at  Platte  City,  kept  by  an  ardent 
pro-slavery  man.  The  intending  immigrant,  un- 
conscious of  any  hindrance  to  his  crossing,  was 
calmly  driving  down  to  the  ferry-boat,  a  flat-bot- 
tomed craft  propelled  by  long  oars,  or  sweeps, 
when  the  ferryman  stopped  him  with  the  question, 
"  What  hev  ye  got  into  yer  waggin  ?  " 


26  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

"  Oxen,"  sententiously  replied  the  newcomer. 

"  And  what's  them  thar  cattle  f ollering  on  be- 
hind?" he  asked,  pointing  to  a  drove  of  milch- 
cattle  in  the  rear. 

"  Caouws,"  answered  the  immigrant,  in  the  broad 
pronunciation  peculiar  to  provincial  people  of  the 
New  England  States. 

"All  right,"  was  the  rejoinder;  "a  man  that 
says  '  caouws '  can't  go  over  this  yere  ferry  with- 
outen  he's  got  the  tickets."  No  argument  would 
induce  the  ferryman  to  explain  what  the  tickets 
were  and  where  they  could  be  procured.  Finally, 
his  patience  exhausted,  the  free-State  man  suddenly 
drew  from  the  big  pockets  of  his  frock  a  pair  of 
tremendous  pistols,  ready  cocked,  and,  holding  them 
full  in  the  face  of  the  surprised  f erryman,  he  said,  — 

"Here  are  my  tickets,  and  I'm  going  across 
this  ferry  right  off,  caouws  or  no  caouws !  "  And 
he  went. 

Even  at  Parkville,  where  there  was  very  little 
difficulty  in  crossing,  as  compared  with  what  there 
had  been  earlier  in  the  struggle  for  Kansas,  they 
were  advised  by  discreet  friends  and  sympathizers 
to  be  on  the  lookout  for  opposition.  Every  fresh 
arrival  of  free-State  men  angered  yet  more  the 
Borderers  who  were  gathered  there  to  hinder  and, 
if  possible,  prevent  further  immigration.  Mr.  Bry- 
ant chafed  under  the  necessity  of  keeping  his 
voice  hushed  on  the  topic  that  engaged  all  his 
thoughts;  and  Oscar  and  Sandy  were  ready  to 


ON   THE  DISPUTED   TERRITORY.  27 

fight  their  way  across  the  river;  at  least  they 
said  so. 

They  did  find,  however,  that  the  buying  of  pro- 
visions and  farming-tools  required  for  their  future 
use,  was  out  of  the  question  in  Parkville.  Whether 
it  was  the  unexpected  demand,  or  a  refusal  of 
the  Missourians  to  sell  to  free-State  men,  they 
could  not  determine.  But  the  prices  of  every- 
thing they  wanted  were  very  high.  What  should 
they  do?  These  articles  they  must  have.  But 
their  cost  here  was  far  beyond  their  most  extrava- 
gant estimates.  When  Mr.  Howell  was  reminded 
by  his  brother-in-law  how  he  had  said  that  no 
politics  could  interfere  with  trade  and  prices,  he 
was  amused. 

"  Of  course,"  he  said,  "  it  does  look  as  if  these 
Missourians  would  not  sell  at  fair  prices  because 
they  want  to  hinder  us;  but  don't  you  see  that 
the  demand  is  greater  than  the  supply?  I  know 
these  folks  are  bitterly  hostile  to  us ;  but  the 
reason  why  they  have  so  small  a  stock  of  goods 
on  hand  is  that  they  have  sold  out  to  other  free- 
State  men  that  have  come  before  us  to  buy  the 
same  things.  Isn't  that  so  ?  " 

Mr.  Bryant  was  obliged  to  admit  that  this  was 
a  reasonable  explanation;  but  as  he  had  begun 
by  thinking  that  every  Borderer  hated  a  free-State 
man  and  would  do  him  an  injury  if  he  could,  he 
did  not  give  up  that  notion  willingly.  He  was 
certain  that  there  was  a  plot  in  the  high  prices  of 
bacon,  flour,  corn-meal,  and  ploughs. 


28  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

In  this  serious  dilemma,  Charlie  came  to  the 
.olief  of  the  party  with  the  information  that  a 
free-State  man,  whose  team  had  just  recrossed  the 
river  for  a  load  of  supplies  sent  him  by  a  wagon 
that  was  to  return  to  Iowa,  brought  news  that  a 
large  trading-post  had  been  opened  at  a  new  Kan- 
sas town  called  Quindaro.  He  said  that  the  Iowa 
man  told  him  that  prices  were  just  now  lower  in 
Quindaro  than  they  had  ever  been  in  Parkville. 

"  Quindaro  ?  "  said  Oscar,  musingly  ;  —  "  why, 
that  must  be  an  Indian  name,  —  feminine  Indian 
name,  too,  unless  I  miss  my  guess." 

Mr.  Bryant  had  heard  of  Quindaro.  It  was  a 
brand-new  town,  a  few  miles  down  the  river,  set- 
tled by  free-State  men  and  named  for  a  young, 
full-blooded  Indian  girl  of  the  Delaware  tribe. 
The  town  was  on  the  borders  of  the  Delaware 
reservation,  which  in  those  days  came  close  to  the 
Missouri  River.  Charlie,  also,  had  gathered  some 
facts  about  the  town,  and  he  added  that  Quindaro 
was  a  good  place  to  start  from,  going  westward. 
The  party  had  laid  in  a  stock  of  groceries  —  coffee, 
tea,  and  other  articles  of  that  description  —  before 
leaving  home.  Now  they  needed  staple  provis- 
ions, a  few  farming  tools,  a  breaking-plough,  and 
some  seed  corn.  Few  thought  of  planting  any- 
thing but  corn;  but  the  thrifty  settlers  from 
Illinois  knew  the  value  of  fresh  vegetables,  and 
they  were  resolved  to  have  "garden  truck"  just 
as  soon  as  seeds  could  be  planted  and  brought  to 
maturity. 


ON  THE  DISPUTED  TEEE1TOEY.  29 

"And  side-meat?"  asked  Sandy,  wonderingly, 
as  he  heard  his  father  inquiring  the  price  of  that 
article  of  food.  Side-meat,  in  the  South  and 
West,  is  the  thin  flank  of  a  porker,  salted  and 
smoked  after  the  fashion  of  hams,  and  in  those 
parts  of  the  Southwest  it  was  (and  probably  is) 
the  staple  article  of  food  among  the  people.  It 
is  sold  in  long,  unattractive-looking  slabs ;  and 
when  Sandy  heard  its  name  mentioned,  his  disgust 
as  well  as  his  wonder  was  kindled. 

"Side-meat?"  he  repeated,  with  a  rising  inflec- 
tion. "  Why,  I  thought  we  were  going  to  live  on 
game,  —  birds  and  buffalo  and  the  like !  Side- 
meat  ?  Well,  that  makes  me  sick !  " 

The  two  men  laughed,  and  Mr.  Howell  said,  — 

"  Why,  Sandy,  you  are  bent  on  hunting  and  not 
on  buckling  down  to  farm  work.  How  do  you 
suppose  we  are  going  to  live  if  we  have  nothing 
to  eat  but  wild  game  that  we  kill,  and  breadstuffs 
and  vegetables  that  we  buy  ?  " 

Sandy  had  thought  that  they  might  be  able 
to  step  out  into  the  woods  or  prairie,  between 
times,  as  it  were,  and  knock  down  a  few  head  of 
game  when  the  day's  work  was  done,  or  had  not 
begun.  When  he  said  as  much,  the  two  heads  of 
the  party  laughed  again,  and  even  Charlie  joined 
in  the  glee. 

"  My  dear  infant,"  said  his  father,  seriously,  but 
with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  "  game  is  not  so  plenty 
anywhere  as  that ;  and  if  it  were,  we  should  soon 


30  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

tire  of  it.  Now  side-meat  'sticks  to  the  ribs,'  as 
the  people  hereabouts  will  tell  you,  and  it  is  the 
best  thing  to  fall  back  upon  when  fresh  meat  fails. 
We  can't  get  along  without  it,  and  that  is  a  fact ; 
hey,  Charlie?" 

The  rest  of  the  party  saw  the  wisdom  of  this 
suggestion,  and  Sandy  was  obliged  to  give  up, 
then  and  there,  his  glowing  views  of  a  land  so 
teeming  with  game  that  one  had  only  to  go  out 
with  a  rifle,  or  even  a  club,  and  knock  it  over.  But 
he  mischievously  insisted  that  if  side-meat  did 
"stick  to  the  ribs,"  as  the  Missourians  declared, 
they  did  not  eat  much  of  it,  for,  as  a  rule,  the 
people  whom  they  met  were  a  very  lank  and  slab- 
sided  lot.  "  Clay-eaters,"  their  new  acquaintance 
from  Quindaro  said  they  were. 

"  Clay-eaters  ?  "  asked  Charlie,  with  a  puzzled 
look.  "  They  are  clayey-looking  in  the  face.  But 
it  can't  be  possible  that  they  actually  eat  clay  ?  " 

"  Well,  they  do,  and  I  have  seen  them  chewing 
it.  There  is  a  fine,  soft  clay  found  in  these  parts, 
and  more  especially  south  of  here ;  it  has  a  greasy 
feeling,  as  if  it  was  a  fatty  substance,  and  the 
natives  eat  it  just  as  they  would  candy.  Why,  I 
should  think  that  it  would  form  a  sand-bar  inside 
of  a  man,  after  awhile  ;  but  they  take  to  it  just  as 
naturally ! " 

"  If  I  have  got  to  choose  between  side-meat  and 
clay  for  a  regular  diet,"  said  Sand/,  "give  me 
side-meat  every  tl^ie." 


ON   THE  DISPUTED   TERRITORY.  31 

That  night,  having  made  their  plans  to  avoid 
the  prying  eyes  of  the  border-State  men,  who  in 
great  numbers  were  now  coming  in,  well-armed 
and  looking  somewhat  grimly  at  the  free-State 
men,  the  little  party  crossed  the  river.  Ten  dol- 
lars, good  United  States  money,  was  demanded  by 
the  ferryman  as  the  price  of  their  passage ;  it 
looked  like  robbery,  but  there  was  no  other  way 
of  getting  over  the  river  and  into  the  Promised 
Land ;  so  it  was  paid,  with  many  a  wrench  of  the 
patience  of  the  indignant  immigrants;  and  they 
pitched  their  tent  that  night  under  the  stars  and 
slept  soundly  on  the  soil  of  "  bleeding  Kansas." 

Bright  and  early  next  morning,  the  boys  were 
up  and  stirring,  for  now  was  to  begin  their  camp 
life.  Hitherto,  they  had  slept  in  their  tent,  but 
had  taken  their  meals  at  the  farm-houses  and  small 
taverns  of  the  country  through  which  they  had 
passed.  They  would  find  few  such  conveniences 
in  the  new  country  into  which  they  had  come,  and 
they  had  been  warned  that  in  Kansas  the  rule  was 
"  every  man  for  himself." 

They  made  sad  work  with  their  first  breakfast 
in  camp.  Oscar  had  taken  a  few  lessons  in  cook- 
ing from  his  mother,  before  leaving  home,  and  the 
two  men  had  had  some  experience  in  that  line  of 
duty  when  out  on  hunting  expeditions  in  Illinois, 
years  before.  So  they  managed  to  make  coffee, 
fry  slices  of  side-meat,  and  bake  a  hoe-cake  of 
Indian-corn  meal.  "  Hog  and  hominy,"  said  Sandy's 


32  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

father.  "  That's  the  diet  of  the  country,  and  that 
is  what  we  shall  come  to,  and  we  might  as  well 
take  it  first  as  last." 

"  There's  worse  provender  than  this,  where 
there's  none,"  said  Mr.  Bryant,  cheerfully ;  "  and 
before  we  get  through  we  shall  be  hungry  more 
than  once  for  hog  and  hominy." 

It  was  an  enlivening  sight  that  greeted  the  eves 
of  the  newcomers  as  they  looked  around  upon  the 
flat  prairie  that  stretched  along  the  river-side. 
The  tents  of  the  immigrants  glistened  in  the  rising 
sun.  The  smoke  of  many  camp-fires  arose  on  the 
summer  air.  Groups  of  men  were  busily  making 
preparations  for  their  long  tramp  westward,  and, 
here  and  there,  women  and  children  were  gathered 
around  the  white-topped  wagons,  taking  their  early 
breakfast  or  getting  ready  for  the  day's  march. 
Here,  too,  could  now  be  seen  the  rough  and  surly- 
looking  border  men  who  were  on  the  way  to  points 
along  the  route  that  were  to  be  occupied  by  them 
before  too  many  free-State  men  should  come  in. 
An  election  of  some  sort,  the  newcomers  could 
not  exactly  make  out  what,  was  to  take  place  in  a 
day  or  two,  and  the  Missourians  whom  they  had 
seen  flocking  into  Parkville  were  ready  to  vote  as 
soon  as  they  got  into  the  Territory. 

Breakfast  over,  the  boys  sauntered  around 
through  the  camps,  viewing  the  novel  sights  with 
vast  amusement.  It  was  like  a  militia  muster  at 
home,  except  that  the  only  soldier  element  they 


ON  THE  DISPUTED  TERRITORY.  33 

saw  was  the  band  of  rough-looking  and  rough- 
talking  men  who  were  bound  to  vote  and  fight  for 
slavery.  They  swaggered  about  with  big  pistols 
girt  at  their  hips  and  rifles  over  their  shoulders, 
full-bearded  and  swarthy,  each  one  a  captain  ap- 
parently, all  without  much  organization,  but  very 
serious  in  their  intention  to  vote  and  to  fight.  It 
really  seemed  as  if  they  had  reached  the  fighting- 
ground  at  last. 

"See  here,  daddy,"  said  Oscar,  as  he  came  in 
from  the  camps  when  the  Dixon  caravan  was  ready 
to  move ;  "  see  what  I  found  in  this  newspaper.  It 
is  a  piece  of  poetry,  and  a  mighty  fine  piece,  too  " ; 
and  the  boy  began  to  read  some  lines  beginning 
thus, — 

**  We  cross  the  prairie  as  of  old 

The  pilgrims  crossed  the  sea, 
To  make  the  West,  as  they  the  East, 

The  homestead  of  the  free !  " 

"  Oh,  well ;  I  can't  bother  about  poetry,  now," 
said  the  father,  hastily.  "  I  have  some  prose  work 
on  hand,  just  about  this  time.  I'm  trying  to  drive 
these  pesky  cattle,  and  I  don't  make  a  very  good 
fist  at  it.  Your  Uncle  Aleck  has  gone  on  ahead, 
and  left  me  to  manage  the  team ;  but  it's  new  busi- 
ness to  me." 

"  John  G.  Whittier  is  the  name  at  the  top  of 
these  verses.  I've  heard  of  him.  He's  a  regular- 
built  poet,  —  lives  somewhere  down  East." 

"I  can't  help  that,  sonny;  get  on  the  other  side 


34  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

of  those  steers,  and  see  if  you  can't  gee  them 
around.  Dear,  dear,  they're  dreadful  obstinate 
creatures ! " 

That  night,  however,  when  they  were  comfort- 
ably and  safely  camped  in  Quindaro,  amid  the 
live-oaks  and  tha  tall  sycamores  that  embowered 
the  pretty  little  town,  Oscar  again  brought  the 
newspaper  to  his  father,  and,  with  kindling  eyes, 
said,  — 

"  Read  it  out,  daddy ;  read  the  piece.  Why,  it 
was  written  just  for  us,  I  do  declare.  It  is  called 
4  The  Kansas  Emigrants.'  We  are  Kansas  Emi- 
grants, aren't  we  ?  " 

The  father  smiled  kindly  as  he  looked  at  the 
flushed  face  and  bright  eyes  of  his  boy,  and  took 
from  him  the  paper  folded  to  show  the  verses.  As 
he  read,  his  eyes,  too,  flashed  and  his  lip  trembled. 

"  Listen  to  this ! "  he  cried.  "  Listen  to  this !  It 
is  like  a  trumpet  call ! "  And  with  a  voice  quiver- 
ing with  emotion,  he  began  the  poem,  — 

"  We  cross  the  prairie  as  of  old 

The  pilgrims  crossed  the  sea, 
To  make  the  West,  as  they  the  East, 
The  homestead  of  the  free  I " 

"Something  has  got  into  my  eyes,"  said  Mr. 
Howell,  as  the  last  stanza  was  read.  "  Great 
Scott !  though,  how  that  does  stir  a  man's  blood ! " 
And  he  furtively  wiped  the  moisture  from  his  eyes. 
It  was  time  to  put  out  the  light  and  go  to  sleep, 


ON  THE  DISPUTED  TERRITORY.  35 

for  the  night  now  was  well  advanced.  But  Mr. 
Bryant,  thoroughly  aroused,  read  and  re-read  the 
lines  aloud. 

"  Sing  'em,"  said  his  brother-in-law,  jokingly. 
Bryant  was  a  good  singer,  and  he  at  once  tuned 
up  with  a  fine  baritone  voice,  recalling  a  familiar 
tune  that  fitted  the  measure  of  the  poem. 

"  Oh,  come  now,  Uncle  Charlie,"  cried  Sandy, 
from  his  blankets  in  the  corner  of  the  tent,  "  that's 
*  Old  Dundee.*  Can't  you  give  us  something 
lively  ?  Something  not  quite  so  solemn  ?  " 

"  Not  so  solemn,  my  laddie  ?  Don't  you  know 
that  this  is  a  solemn  age  we  are  in,  and  a  very  sol- 
emn business  we  are  on?  You'll  think  so  before 
we  get  out  of  this  Territory,  or  I  am  greatly  mis- 
taken." 

"  Sandy'll  think  it's  solemn,  when  he  has  to  trot 
over  a  piece  of  newly  broken  prairie,  carrying  a 
pouchful  of  seed  corn,  dropping  five  grains  in  each 
sod,"  said  his  father,  laughing,  as  he  blew  out  the 
candle. 

"It's  a  good  song;  a  bully  good  song,"  mur- 
mured the  boy,  turning  over  to  sleep.  "  But  it 
ought  to  be  sung  to  something  with  more  of  a  rig- 
a-jig-jig  to  it."  So  saying,  he  was  off  to  the  land 
of  dreams. 


36  THE  BOY  SETTLERS, 


CHAPTER  IV. 

AMONG  THE  DELA WARDS. 

QUTNDARO  was  a  straggling  but  pretty  little 
town  built  among  the  groves  of  the  west  bank  of 
the  Missouri.  Here  the  emigrants  found  a  store 
or  trading-post,  well  supplied  with  the  goods  they 
needed,  staple  articles  of  food  and  the  heavier 
farming-tools  being  the  first  required.  The  boys 
looked  curiously  at  the  big  breaking-plough  that 
was  to  be  of  so  much  consequence  to  them  in  their 
new  life  and  labors.  The  prairies  around  their 
Illinois  home  had  been  long  broken  up  when  they 
were  old  enough  to  take  notice  of  such  things ;  and 
as  they  were  town  boys,  they  had  never  had  their 
attention  called  to  the  implements  of  a  prairie  farm, 

"  It  looks  like  a  plough  that  has  been  sat  down  on 
and  flattened  out,"  was  Oscar's  remark,  after  they 
had  looked  the  thing  over  very  critically.  It  had 
a  long  and  massive  beam,  or  body,  and  big,  strong 
handles,  suggestive  of  hard  work  to  be  done  with 
it.  "  The  nose,"  as  Sandy  called  the  point  of  the 
share,  was  long,  flat,  and  as  sharp  as  a  knife.  It 
was  this  thin  and  knife-like  point  that  was  to  cut 
into  the  virgin  turf  of  the  prairie,  and,  as  the  sod 


AMONG   THE  DELAWARE8.  37 

was  cut,  the  share  was  to  turn  it  over,  bottom  side 
up,  while  the  great,  heavy  implement  was  drawn 
along  by  the  oxen. 

"  But  the  sod  is  so  thick  and  tough,"  said  Oscar, 
"I  don't  see  hoT7  the  oxen  can  drag  the  thing 
through.  Will  our  three  yoke  of  cattle  do  it  ?  " 

The  two  men  looked  at  each  other  and  smiled. 
This  had  been  a  subject  of  much  anxious  thought 
with  them.  They  had  been  told  that  they  would 
have  difficulty  in  breaking  up  the  prairie  with 
three  yoke  of  oxen ;  they  should  have  four  yoke, 
certainly.  So  when  Mr.  Howell  explained  that 
they  must  get  another  yoke  and  then  rely  on  their 
being  able  to  "  change  work  "  with  some  of  their 
neighbors  who  might  have  cattle,  the  boys  laughed 
outright. 

"Neighbors!"  cried  Sandy.  "Why,  I  didn't 
suppose  we  should  have  any  neighbors  within  five 
or  ten  miles.  Did  you,  Oscar  ?  I  was  in  hopes  we 
wouldn't  have  neighbors  to  plague  us  with  their 
pigs  and  chickens,  and  their  running  in  to  borrow 
a  cupful  of  molasses,  or  last  week's  newspaper. 
Neighbors !  "  and  the  boy's  brown  face  wore  an 
expression  of  disgust. 

"  Don't  you  worry  about  neighbors,  Sandy,''  said 
his  uncle.  "Even  if  we  have  any  within  five  miles 
of  us,  we  shall  do  well.  But  if  there  is  to  be  any 
fighting,  we  shall  want  neighbors  to  join  forces 
with  us,  and  we  shall  find  them  handy,  anyhow,  in 
case  of  sickness  or  trouble.  We  cannot  get  along 


38  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

in  a  new  country  like  this  without  neighbors,  and 
you  bear  that  in  mind,  Master  Sandy." 

The  two  leaders  of  this  little  flock  had  been 
asking  about  the  prospects  for  taking  up  claims 
along  the  Kansas  River,  or  the  Kaw,  as  that  stream 
was  then  generally  called.  To  their  great  dismay, 
they  had  found  that  there  was  very  little  vacant 
land  to  be  had  anywhere  near  the  river.  They 
would  have  to  push  on  still  further  westward  if 
they  wished  to  find  good  land  ready  for  the  pre- 
emptor.  Rumors  of  fighting  and  violence  came 
from  the  new  city  of  Lawrence,  the  chief  settle* 
ment  of  the  free-State  men,  on  the  Kaw ;  and  at 
Grasshopper  Falls,  still  further  to  the  west,  the 
most  desirable  land  was  already  taken  up,  and 
there  were  wild  stories  of  a  raid  on  that  locality 
being  planned  by  bands  of  Border  Ruffians.  They 
wers  in  a  state  of  doubt  and  uncertainty. 

"  There  she  is  !  There  she  is  ! "  said  Charlie,  in 
a  loud  whisper,  looking  in  the  direction  of  a  tall, 
unpainted  building  that  stood  among  the  trees 
that  embowered  the  little  settlement.  Every  one 
looked  and  saw  a  young  lady  tripping  along 
through  the  hazel  brush  that  still  covered  the 
ground.  She  was  rather  stylishly  dressed,  "citi- 
fied,"  Oscar  said ;  she  swung  a  beaded  work-bag  as 
she  walked. 

"  Who  is  it  ?  Who  is  it  ?  "  asked  Oscar,  breath, 
lessly.  She  was  the  first  well-dressed  young  lady 
he  had  seen  since  leaving  Iowa. 


AMONG  THE  DEL  AW  ARES.  39 

"  Sh-h-h-h ! "  whispered  Charlie.  "  That's  Quin- 
daro. A  young  fellow  pointed  her  out  to  me  last 
night,  just  after  we  drove  into  the  settlement.  She 
lives  with  her  folks  in  that  tall,  thin  house  up 
there.  I  have  been  looking  for  her  to  come  out. 
See,  she's  just  going  into  the  post-office  now." 

"  Quindaro ! "  exclaimed  Sandy.  "  Why,  I  thought 
Quindaro  was  a  squaw." 

"She's  a  full-blooded  Delaware  Indian  girl,  that's 
what  she  is,  and  she  was  educated  somewhere  East 
in  the  States ;  and  this  town  is  named  for  her. 
She  owns  all  the  land  around  here,  and  is  the  belle 
of  the  place." 

"She's  got  on  hoop-skirts,  too,"  said  Oscar. 
44  Just  think  of  an  Indian  girl  —  a  squaw  —  wear- 
ing hoops,  will  you?"  For  all  this  happened, 
my  young  reader  must  remember,  when  women's 
fashions  were  very  different  from  what  they  now 
ure.  Quindaro  —  that  is  to  say,  the  young  Indian 
lady  of  that  time  —  was  dressed  in  the  height  of 
fashion,  but  not  in  any  way  obtrusively.  Charlie, 
following  with  his  eyes  the  young  girl's  figure,  as 
ehe  came  out  of  the  post-office  and  went  across  the 
ravine  that  divided  the  settlement  into  two  equal 
parts,  mirthfully  said,  "And  only  think!  That  is 
a  full-blooded  Delaware  Indian  girl !  " 

But,  their  curiosity  satisfied,  the  boys  were  evi- 
dently disappointed  with  their  first  view  of  Indian 
civilization.  There  were  no  blanketed  Indians 
loafing  around  in  tlw  sun  and  sleeping  under  the 


40  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

shelter  of  the  underbrush,  as  they  had  been  taught 
to  expect  to  see  them.  Outside  of  the  settlement, 
men  were  ploughing  and  planting,  breaking  prairie, 
and  building  cabins ;  and  while  our  party  were 
looking  about  them,  a  party  of  Delawares  drove 
into  town  with  several  ox-carts  to  carry  away  the 
purchases  that  one  of  their  number  had  already 
made.  It  was  bewildering  to  boys  who  had  been 
brought  up  on  stories  of  Black  Hawk,  the  Prophet, 
and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 
A  Delaware  Indian,  clad  in  the  ordinary  garb  of  a 
Western  farmer  and  driving  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and 
employing  the  same  curious  lingo  used  by  the 
white  farmers,  was  not  a  picturesque  object. 

"  I  allow  that  sixty  dollars  is  a  big  price  to  pay 
for  a  yoke  of  cattle,"  said  Mr.  Howell,  anxiously. 
He  was  greatly  concerned  about  the  new  purchase 
that  must  be  made  here,  according  to  the  latest 
information.  "  We  might  have  got  them  for  two- 
thirds  of  that  money  back  in  Illinois.  And  you 
know  that  Iowa  chap  only  reckoned  the  price  of 
these  at  forty-five,  when  we  traded  with  him  at 
Jones  ville." 

"  It's  no  use  worrying  about  that  now,  Aleck," 
said  his  brother-in-law.  "  I  know  you  thought 
then  that  we  should  need  four  yoke  for  breaking 
the  prairie;  but,  then,  you  weren't  certain  about 
it,  and  none  of  the  rest  of  us  ever  had  any  sod- 
ploughing  to  do." 

"  No,  none  of  us,"  said  Sandy,  with  delightful 


AMONG   THE  DELAWAEES.  41 

gravity ;  at  which  everybody  smiled.  One  would 
have  thought  that  Sandy  was  a  veteran  in  every- 
thing but  farming. 

"  I  met  a  man  this  morning,  while  I  was  prowl- 
ing around  the  settlement,"  said  Charlie,  "who 
said  that  there  was  plenty  of  vacant  land,  of  first- 
rate  quality,  up  around  Manhattan.  Where's 
that,  father  —  do  you  know  ?  He  didn't,  but  some 
other  man,  one  of  the  New  England  Society  fellows, 
told  him  so." 

But  nobody  knew  where  Manhattan  was.  This 
was  the  first  time  they  had  ever  heard  of  the  place. 
The  cattle  question  was  first  to  be  disposed  of,  how- 
ever, and  as  soon  as  the  party  had  finished  their 
breakfast,  the  two  men  and  Charlie  sallied  out 
through  the  settlement  to  look  up  a  bargain.  Oscar 
and  Sandy  were  left  in  the  camp  to  wash  the  dishes 
and  "  clean  up,"  a  duty  which  both  of  them  de- 
spised with  a  hearty  hatred. 

"  If  there's  anything  I  just  fairly  abominate,  it's 
washing  dishes,"  said  Sandy,  seating  himself  on 
the  wagon-tongue  and  discontentedly  eyeing  a 
huge  tin  pan  filled  with  tin  plates  and  cups,  steam- 
ing in  the  hot  water  that  Oscar  had  poured  over 
them  from  the  camp-kettle. 

"  Well,  that's  part  of  the  play,"  answered  Oscar, 
pleasantly.  "  It  isn't  boy's  work,  let  alone  man's 
Work,  to  be  cooking  and  washing  dishes.  I  won- 
ler  what  mother  would  think  to  see  us  at  it?"  And 
*  suspicious  moisture  gathered  in  the  lad's  eyes, 


42  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

as  a  vision  of  his  mother's  tidy  kitchen  in  far-off 
Illinois  rose  before  his  mind.  Sandy  looked  very 
solemn. 

"  But,  as  daddy  says,  it's  no  use  worrying  about 
things  you  can't  help,"  continued  the  cheerful 
Oscar ;  "  so  here  goes,  Sandy.  You  wash,  and  I'll 
dry  'em."  And  the  two  boys  went  on  with  their 
disagreeable  work  so  heartily  that  they  soon  had  it 
out  of  the  way ;  Sandy  remarking  as  they  finished 
it,  that,  for  his  part,  he  did  not  like  the  business 
at  all,  but  he  did  not  think  it  fair  that  they  two, 
who  could  not  do  the  heavy  work,  should  grumble 
over  that  they  could  do.  "  The  worst  of  it  is,"  he 
added,  "  we've  got  to  look  forward  to  months  and 
months  of  this  sort  of  thing.  Father  and  Uncle 
Charlie  say  that  we  cannot  have  the  rest  of  the 
family  come  out  until  we  have  a  house  to  put  them 
in  —  a  log-cabin,  they  mean,  of  course ;  and  Uncle 
Charlie  says  that  we  may  not  get  them  out  until 
another  spring.  I  don't  believe  he  will  be  willing 
for  them  to  come  out  until  he  knows  whether  the 
Territory  is  to  be  slave  or  free.  Do  you,  Oscar?  " 

"  No,  indeed,"  said  Oscar.  "  Between  you  and 
me,  Sandy,  I  don't  want  to  go  back  to  Illinois  again, 
for  anything ;  but  I  guess  father  will  make  up  his 
mind  about  staying  only  when  we  find  out  if  there 
is  to  be  a  free-State  government  or  not.  Dear  me, 
why  can't  the  Missourians  keep  out  of  here  and  let 
us  alone  ?  " 

"It's  a  free  country,"  answered  Sandy,  senten- 


AMONG   THE  DELAWAEES.  43 

tiously.  "That's  what  Uncle  Charlie  is  always 
saying.  The  Missourians  have  just  as  good  a  right 
here  as  we  have." 

"But  they  have  no  right  to  be  bringing  in 
their  slavery  with  'em,"  replied  the  other.  "  That 
wouldn't  be  a  free  country,  would  it,  with  one  man 
owning  another  man  ?  Not  much." 

"  That's  beyond  me,  Oscar.  I  suppose  it's  a 
free  country  only  for  the  white  man  to  come  to. 
But  I  haven't  any  politics  in  me.  Hullo !  there 
comes  the  rest  of  us  driving  a  yoke  of  oxen. 
Well,  on  my  word,  they  have  been  quick  about  it. 
Uncle  Charlie  is  a  master  hand  at  hurrying  things, 
I  will  say,"  added  Sandy,  admiringly.  "  He's  done 
all  the  trading,  I'll  be  bound ! " 

"  Fifty-five  dollars,"  replied  Bryant,  to  the  boys' 
eager  inquiry  as  to  the  price  paid  for  the  yoke  of 
oxen.  "Fifty-five  dollars,  and  not  so  very  dear, 
after  all,  considering  that  there  are  more  people 
who  want  to  buy  than  there  are  who  want  to  sell." 

"  And  now  we  are  about  ready  to  start ;  only  a 
few  more  provisions  to  lay  in.  Suppose  we  get 
away  by  to-morrow  morning?" 

"  Oh,  that's  out  of  the  question,  Uncle  Aleck," 
said  Oscar.  "  What  makes  you  in  such  a  hurry  ? 
Why,  you  have  all  along  said  we  need  not  get 
away  from  here  for  a  week  yet,  if  we  did  not  want 
to ;  the  grass  hasn't  fairly  started  yet,  and  we  can- 
not drive  far  without  feed  for  the  cattle.  Four 
yoke,  too,"  he  added  proudly. 


44  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

"  The  fact  is,  Oscar,"  said  his  father,  lowering 
his  voice  and  looking  around  as  if  to  see  whether 
anybody  was  within  hearing  distance,  "  we  have 
heard  this  morning  that  there  was  a  raid  on  this 
place  threatened  from  Kansas  City,  over  the  border. 
This  is  the  free-State  headquarters  in  this  part  of 
the  country,  and  it  has  got  about  that  the  store 
here  is  owned  and  run  by  the  New  England  Emi- 
grant Aid  Society.  So  they  are  threatening  to  raid 
the  place,  burn  the  settlement,  run  off  the  stock, 
and  loot  the  settlers.  I  should  like  to  have  a  com* 
pany  of  resolute  men  to  defend  the  place,"  and 
Mr.  Bryant's  eyes  flashed;  "but  this  is  not  our 
home,  nor  our  fight,  and  I'm  willing  to  '  light  out ' 
right  off,  or  as  soon  as  we  get  ready." 

"Will  they  come  to-night,  do  you  think?" 
asked  Sandy,  and  his  big  blue  eyes  looked  very 
big  indeed.  "  Because  we  can't  get  off  until  we 
have  loaded  the  wagon  and  fixed  the  wheels ;  you 
said  they  must  be  greased  before  we  travelled 
another  mile,  you  know." 

It  was  agreed,  however,  that  there  was  no  im- 
mediate danger  of  the  raid  —  certainly  not  that 
night ;  but  all  felt  that  it  was  the  part  of  prudence 
to  be  ready  to  start  at  once ;  the  sooner,  the  better. 
When  the  boys  went  to  their  blankets  that  night, 
they  whispered  to  each  other  that  the  camp  might 
be  raided  and  so  they  should  be  ready  for  any 
assault  that  might  come.  Sandy  put  his  "  pepper- 
box "  under  his  pillow,  and  Charlie  had  his  trusty 


AMONG   THE  DELAWARES.  45 

rifle  within  reach.  Oscar  carried  a  double-barrelled 
shot-gun  of  which  he  was  very  proud,  and  that 
weapon,  loaded  with  buckshot,  was  laid  carefully 
by  the  side  of  his  blankets.  The  two  elders  of  the 
party  "  slept  with  one  eye  open,"  as  they  phrased 
it.  But  there  was  no  alarm  through  the  night, 
except  once  when  Mr.  Howell  got  up  and  went 
out  to  see  how  the  cattle  were  getting  on.  He 
found  that  one  of  the  sentinels  who  had  been  set 
by  the  Quindaro  Company  in  consequence  of  the 
scare,  had  dropped  asleep  on  the  wagon-tongue  of 
the  Dixon  party.  Shaking  him  gently,  he  awoke 
the  sleeping  sentinel,  who  at  once  bawled,  "  Don't 
shoot  I "  to  the  great  consternation  of  the  nearest 
campers,  who  came  flying  out  of  their  blankets 
to  see  what  was  the  matter.  When  explanations 
had  been  made,  all  laughed,  stretched  themselves, 
and  then  went  to  bed  again  to  dream  of  Missouri 
raiders. 

The  sun  was  well  up  in  the  sky  next  day,  when 
the  emigrants,  having  completed  their  purchases, 
yoked  their  oxen  and  drove  up  through  the  settle- 
ment and  ascended  the  rolling  swale  of  land  that 
lay  beyond  the  groves  skirting  the  river.  Here 
were  camps  of  other  emigrants  who  had  moved  out 
of  Quindaro  before  them,  or  had  come  down  from 
the  point  on  the  Missouri  opposite  Parkville,  in 
order  to  get  on  to  the  road  that  led  westward  and 
south  of  the  Kaw.  It  was  a  beautifully  wooded 
country.  When  the  lads  admired  the  trees,  Mr. 


46  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

Howell  somewhat  contemptuously  said:  "Not 
much  good,  chiefly  black-jacks  and  scrub-oaks " ; 
but  the  woods  were  pleasant  to  drive  through,  and 
when  they  came  upon  scattered  farms  and  planta- 
tions with  comfortable  log-cabins  set  in  the  midst 
of  cultivated  fields,  the  admiration  of  the  party  was 
excited. 

"  Only  look,  Uncle  Charlie,"  cried  Sandy, 
"there's  a  real  flower-garden  full  of  hollyhocks 
and  marigolds  ;  and  there's  a  rose-bush  climbing 
over  that  log-cabin ! "  It  was  too  early  to  distin- 
guish one  flower  from  another  by  its  blooms,  but 
Sandy's  sharp  eyes  had  detected  the  leaves  of  the 
old-fashioned  flowers  that  he  loved  so  well,  which  he 
knew  were  only  just  planted  in  the  farther  northern 
air  of  their  home  in  Illinois.  It  was  a  pleasant- 
looking  Kansas  home,  and  Sandy  wondered  how  it 
happened  that  this  cosey  living-place  had  grown 
up  so  quickly  in  this  new  Territory.  It  looked  as 
if  it  were  many  years  old,  he  said. 

"  We  are  still  on  the  Delaware  Indian  reserva- 
tion," replied  his  uncle.  "  The  Government  has 
given  the  tribe  a  big  tract  of  land  here  and  away 
up  to  the  Kaw.  They've  been  here  for  years,  and 
they  are  good  farmers,  I  should  say,  judging  from 
the  looks  of  things  hereabouts." 

Just  then,  as  if  to  explain  matters,  a  decent- 
looking  man,  dressed  in  the  rude  fashion  of  the 
frontier,  but  in  civilized  clothes,  came  out  of  the 
cabin,  and,  pipe  in  mouth,  stared  not  unkindly  at 
the  passing  wagon  and  its  party. 


AMONG  THE  DELAWAEE8.  47 

"  Howdy,"  he  civilly  replied  to  a  friendly  greet- 
ing from  Mr.  Ho  well.  The  boys  knew  that "  How  " 
was  a  customary  salutation  among  Indians,  but 
"Howdy"  struck  them  as  being  comic;  Sandy 
laughed  as  he  turned  away  his  face.  Mr.  Bryan  i 
lingered  while  the  slow-moving  oxen  plodded  their 
way  along  the  road,  and  the  boys,  too,  halted  to 
hear  what  the  dark-skinned  man  had  to  say.  But 
the  Indian  —  for  he  was  a  "  civilized  "  Delaware  — 
was  a  man  of  very  few  words.  In  answer  to  Mr. 
Bryant's  questions,  he  said  he  was  one  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  tribe  ;  he  had  been  to  Washington  to  settle 
the  terms  of  an  agreement  with  the  Government ; 
and  he  had  lived  in  that  cabin  six  years,  and  on 
the  present  reservation  ever  since  it  was  estab- 
lished. 

All  this  information  came  out  reluctantly,  and 
with  as  little  use  of  vital  breath  as  possible.  When 
they  had  moved  on  out  of  earshot,  Oscar  expressed 
his  decided  opinion  that  that  settler  was  no  more 
like  James  Fenimore  Cooper's  Indians  than  the 
lovely  Quindaro  appeared  to  be.  "  Why,  did  you 
notice,  father,"  he  continued,  "that  he  actually 
had  on  high-heeled  boots?  Think  of  that!  An 
Indian  with  high-heeled  boots !  Why,  in  Cooper's 
novels  they  wear  moccasins,  and  some  of  them  go 
barefoot.  These  Indians  are  not  worthy  of  the 
name." 

"  You  will  see  more  of  the  same  sort  before  we 
get  to  the  river,"  said  his  father.  "  They  have  a 


48  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

meeting-house  up  yonder,  by  the  fork  of  the  road, 
I  am  told.  And,  seeing  that  this  is  our  first  day 
out  of  camp  on  the  last  stage  of  our  journey,  sup- 
pose we  stop  for  dinner  at  Indian  John's,  Aleck? 
It  will  be  a  change  from  camp-fare,  and  they  say 
that  John  keeps  a  good  table." 

To  the  delight  of  the  lads,  it  was  agreed  that 
they  should  make  the  halt  as  suggested,  and  noon 
found  them  at  a  very  large  and  comfortable  "  double 
cabin,'*  as  these  peculiar  structures  are  called. 
Two  log-cabins  are  built,  end  to  end,  with  one  roof 
covering  the  two.  The  passage  between  them  is 
floored  over,  and  affords  an  open  shelter  from  rain 
and  sun,  and  in  hot  weather  is  the  pleasantest 
place  about  the  establishment.  Indian  John's 
cabin  was  built  of  hewn  logs,  nicely  chinked  in 
with  slivers,  and  daubed  with  clay  to  keep  out  the 
wintry  blasts.  As  is  the  manner  of  the  country, 
one  of  the  cabins  was  used  for  the  rooms  of  the 
family,  while  the  dining-room  and  kitchen  were  in 
the  other  end  of  the  structure.  Indian  John  regu- 
larly furnished  dinner  to  the  stage  passengers 
going  westward  from  Quindaro  ;  for  a  public  con- 
veyance, a  "mud-wagon,"  as  it  was  called,  had 
been  put  on  this  part  of  the  road. 

"  What  a  tuck-out  I  had ! "  said  Sandy,  after  a 
very  bountiful  and  well-cooked  dinner  had  been 
disposed  of  by  the  party.  "  And  who  would  have 
supposed  we  should  ever  sit  down  to  an  Indian's 
table  and  eat  fried  chicken,  ham  and  eggs,  and 


AMONG   THE  DELAWAEE8.  49 

corn-dodger,  from  a  regular  set  of  blue-and-white 
plates,  and  drink  good  coffee  from  crockery  cups? 
It  just  beats  Father  Dixon's  Indian  stories  all  to 
pieces." 

Oscar  and  Charlie,  however,  were  disposed  to 
think  very  lightly  of  this  sort  of  Indian  civiliza- 
tion. Oscar  said :  "  If  these  red  men  were  either 
one  thing  or  the  other,  I  wouldn't  mind  it.  But 
they  have  shed  the  gaudy  trappings  of  the  wild 
Indian,  and  their  new  clothes  do  not  fit  very  well. 
As  Grandfather  Bryant  used  to  say,  they  are 
neither  fish  nor  flesh,  nor  good  red  herring.  They 
are  a  mighty  uninteresting  lot." 

"Well,  they  are  on  the  way  to  a  better  state 
of  things  than  they  have  known,  anyhow,"  said 
Charlie.  "  The  next  generation  will  see  them 
higher  up,  I  guess.  But  I  must  say  that  these 
farms  don't  look  very  thrifty,  somehow.  Indians 
are  a  lazy  lot;  they  don't  like  work.  Did  you 
notice  how  all  those  big  fellows  at  dinner  sat  down 
with  us  and  the  stage  passengers,  and  the  poor 
women  hau  to  wait  on  everybody  ?  That's  Indian." 

Uncle  Charlie  laughed,  and  said  that  the  boys 
had  expected  to  find  civilized  Indians  waiting  on 
the  table,  decked  out  with  paint  and  feathers,  and 
wearing  deerskin  leggings  and  such  like. 

"Wait  until  we  get  out  on  the  frontier,"  said 
he,  "  and  then  you  will  see  wild  Indians,  perhaps, 
or  '  blanket  Indians,'  anyhow." 

"  Blanket  Indians  ?  "  said  Sandy,  with  an  in- 
terrogation point  in  his  face. 


50  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

"Yes;  that's  what  the  roving  and  unsettled 
bands  are  called  by  white  folks.  Those  that  are 
on  reservations  and  earning  their  own  living,  or  a 
part  of  it,  —  for  the  Government  helps  them  out 
considerably,  —  are  called  town  Indians ;  those 
that  live  in  wigwams,  or  tepees,  and  rove  from 
place  to  place,  subsisting  on  what  they  can  catch, 
are  blanket  Indians.  They  tell  me  that  there  are 
wild  Indians  out  on  the  western  frontier.  But 
they  are  not  hostile ;  at  least,  they  were  not,  at 
last  accounts.  The  Cheyennes  have  been  rather 
uneasy,  they  say,  since  the  white  settlers  began  to 
pour  into  the  country.  Just  now  I  am  more  con- 
cerned about  the  white  Missourians  than  I  am 
about  the  red  aborigines." 

They  were  still  on  the  Delaware  reservation 
when  they  camped  that  evening,  and  the  boys  went 
into  the  woods  to  gather  fuel  for  their  fire. 

They  had  not  gone  far,  when  Sandy  gave  a  wild 
whoop  of  alarm,  jumping  about  six  feet  backward 
as  he  yelled,  "  A  rattlesnake ! "  Sure  enough,  an 
immense  snake  was  sliding  out  from  under  a  mass 
of  brush  that  the  boy  had  disturbed  as  he  gathered 
an  armful  of  dry  branches  and  twigs.  Dropping 
his  burden,  Sandy  shouted,  "  Kill  him !  Kill  him, 
quick !  " 

The  reptile  was  about  five  feet  long,  very  thick, 
and  of  a  dark  mottled  color.  Instantly,  each  lad 
had  armed  himself  with  a  big  stick  and  had  attacked 
him.  The  snake,  stopped  in  his  attempt  to  get 


AMONG  THE  DELAWAEES.  51 

away,  turned,  and  opening  his  ugly-looking  mouth, 
made  a  curious  blowing  noise,  half  a  hiss  and  half 
a  cough,  as  Charlie  afterward  described  it. 

"  Take  care,  Sandy !  He'll  spring  at  you,  and 
bite  you  in  the  face  !  See !  He's  getting  ready  to 
spring !  " 

And,  indeed,  the  creature,  frightened,  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  agile,  jumping  boys,  each  armed 
with  a  club,  seemed  ready  to  defend  his  life  with 
the  best  weapons  at  his  command.  The  boys, 
excited  and  alarmed,  were  afraid  to  come  near  the 
snake,  and  were  dancing  about,  waiting  for  a  chance 
to  strike,  when  they  were  startled  by  a  shot  from 
behind  them,  and  the  snake,  making  one  more 
effort  to  turn  on  himself,  shuddered  and  fell  dead. 

Mr.  Howell,  hearing  the  shouting  of  the  boys, 
had  run  out  of  the  camp,  and  with  a  well-directed 
rifle  shot  had  laid  low  the  reptile. 

"  It's  only  a  blow-snake,"  he  said,  taking  the 
creature  by  the  tail  and  holding  it  up  to  view. 
"  He's  harmless.  Well !  Of  course  a  dead  snake 
is  harmless,  but  when  he  was  alive  he  was  not  the 
sort  of  critter  to  be  afraid  of.  I  thought  you  had 
encountered  a  bear,  at  the  very  least,  by  the  racket 
you  made." 

"  He's  a  big  fellow,  anyhow,"  said  Oscar,  giving 
the  snake  a  kick,  "  and  Sandy  said  he  was  a  rattle- 
snake. I  saw  a  rattler  once  when  we  lived  in 
Dixon.  Billy  Everett  and  I  found  him  down  on 
the  bluff  below  the  railroad;  and  he  was  spotted 
all  over.  Besides,  this  fellow  hasn't  any  rattles." 


52  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"  The  boys  have  been  having  a  lesson  in  natural 
history,  Charlie,"  said  Mr.  Howell  to  his  brother- 
in-law,  as  they  returned  with  him  to  camp,  loaded 
with  firewood ;  Sandy,  boy-like,  dragging  the  dead 
blow-snake  after  him. 


TIDINGS  FROM  THE  FRONT.  53 


CHAPTER  V. 

TIDINGS   FROM  THE  FRONT. 

SUPPER  was  over,  a  camp-fire  built  (for  the  emi- 
grants did  their  cooking  by  a  small  camp-stove,  and 
sat  by  the  light  of  a  fire  on  the  ground),  when  out 
of  the  darkness  came  sounds  of  advancing  teams. 
Oscar  was  playing  his  violin,  trying  to  pick  out  a 
tune  for  the  better  singing  of  Whittier's  song  of 
the  Kansas  Emigrants.  His  father  raised  his  hand 
to  command  silence.  "  That's  a  Yankee  teamster, 
I'll  be  bound,"  he  said,  as  the  "  Woh-hysh !  Woh- 
haw ! "  of  the  coming  party  fell  on  his  ear.  "  No 
Missourian  ever  talks  to  his  cattle  like  that." 

As  he  spoke,  a  long,  low  emigrant  wagon,  or 
"  prairie  schooner."  drawn  by  three  yoke  of  dun- 
colored  oxen,  toiled  up  the  road.  In  the  wagon 
was  a  faded-looking  woman  with  two  small  chil- 
dren clinging  to  her.  Odds  and  ends  of  household 
furniture  showed  themselves  over  her  head  from 
within  the  wagon,  and  strapped  on  behind  was  a 
coop  of  fowls,  from  which  came  a  melancholy 
cackle,  as  if  the  hens  and  chickens  were  weary  of 
their  long  journey.  A  man  dressed  in  butternut- 
colored  homespun  drove  the  oxen,  and  a  boy  about 


54  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

ten  years  old  trudged  behind  the  driver.  In  the 
darkness  behind  these  tramped  a  small  herd  of 
cows  and  oxen  driven  by  two  other  men,  and  a  lad 
about  the  age  of  Oscar  Bryant.  The  new  arrivals 
paused  in  the  road,  surveyed  our  friends  from 
Illinois,  stopped  the  herd  of  cattle,  and  then  the 
man  who  was  driving  the  wagon  said,  with  an  un- 
mistakable New  England  twang,  "  Friends  ?  " 

"  Friends,  most  assuredly,"  said  Mr.  Bryant, 
with  a  smile.  "I  guess  you  have  been  having 
hard  luck,  you  appear  to  be  so  suspicious." 

"  Well,  we  have,  and  that's  a  fact.  But  we're 
main  glad  to  be  able  to  camp  among  friends. 
Jotham,  unyoke  the  cattle  after  you  have  driven 
them  into  the  timber  a  piece."  He  assisted  the 
woman  and  children  to  get  down  from  the  wagon, 
and  one  of  the  cattle-drivers  coming  up,  drove  the 
team  into  the  woods  a  short  distance,  and  the  tired 
oxen  were  soon  lying  down  among  the  underbrush. 

"  Well,  yes,  we  have  had  a  pretty  hard  time  get- 
ting here.  We  are  the  last  free-State  men  allowed 
over  the  ferry  at  Parkville.  Wliere  be  you  from  ?  " 

"We  are  from  Lee  County,  Illinois,"  replied 
Mr.  Bryant.  "  We  came  in  by  the  way  of  Park- 
ville, too,  a  day  or  two  ago ;  but  we  stopped  at 
Quindaro.  Did  you  come  direct  from  Parkville?" 

"Yes,"  replied  the  man.  "We  came  up  the 
river  in  the  first  place,  on  the  steamboat  'Black 
Eagle,'  and  when  we  got  to  Leavenworth,  a  big 
crowd  of  Borderers,  seeing  us  and  another  lot  of 


TIDINGS  FROM  THE  FRONT.  55 

free-State  men  on  the  boat,  refused  to  let  us  land, 
We  had  to  go  down  the  river  again.  The  captain 
of  the  boat  kicked  up  a  great  fuss  about  it,  and 
wanted  to  put  us  ashore  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river;  but  the  Missouri  men  wouldn't  have  it. 
They  put  a  'committee,'  as  they  called  the  two 
men,  on  board  the  steamboat,  and  they  made  the 
skipper  take  us  down  the  river." 

"How  far  down  did  you  go?"  asked  Bryant,  his 
face  reddening  with  anger. 

"Well,  we  told  the  committee  that  we  came 
through  loway,  and  that  to  loway  we  must  go ;  so 
they  rather  let  up  on  us,  and  set  us  ashore  just 
opposite  Wyandotte.  I  was  mighty  'fraid  they'd 
make  us  swear  we  wouldn't  go  back  into  Kansas 
some  other  way;  but  they  didn't,  and  so  we 
stivered  along  the  road  eastwards  after  they  set 
us  ashore,  and  then  we  fetched  a  half-circle  around 
and  got  into  Parkville." 

"  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  you  bought  those  clothes 
that  you  have  got  on  at  Parkville,"  said  Mr. 
Howell,  with  a  smile. 

"  You  guess  about  right,"  said  the  sad-colored 
stranger.  "  A  very  nice  sort  of  a  man  we  met  at 
the  fork  of  the  road,  as  you  turn  off  to  go  to  Park- 
ville from  the  river  road,  told  me  that  my  clothes 
were  too  Yankee.  I  wore  'em  all  the  way  from 
Woburn,  Massachusetts,  where  we  came  from,  and 
I  hated  to  give  'em  up.  But  discretion  is  better 
than  valor,  I  have  heern  tell ;  so  I  made  the  trade, 
and  here  I  am." 


56  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"We  had  no  difficulty  getting  across  at  Park- 
ville,"  said  Mr.  Bryant,  "  except  that  we  did  hare 
to  go  over  in  the  night  in  a  sneaking  fashion  that 
I  did  not  like." 

"Well,"  answered  the  stranger,  "as  a  special 
favor,  they  let  us  across,  seeing  that  we  had  had 
such  hard  luck.  That's  a  nice-looking  fiddle  you've 
got  there,  sonny,"  he  abruptly  interjected,  as  he 
took  Oscar's  violin  from  his  unwilling  hand.  "  I 
used  to  play  the  fiddle  once,  myself,"  he  added. 
Then,  drawing  the  bow  over  the  strings  in  a  light 
and  artistic  manner,  he  began  to  play  "Bonnie 
Doon." 

"  Come,  John,"  his  wife  said  wearily,  "  it's  time 
the  children  were  under  cover.  Let  go  the  fiddle 
until  we've  had  supper." 

John  reluctantly  handed  back  the  violin,  and 
the  newcomers  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  their 
preparations  for  the  night's  rest.  Later  on  in  the 
evening,  John  Clark,  as  the  head  of  the  party 
introduced  himself,  came  over  to  the  Dixon  camp, 
and  gave  them  all  the  news.  Clark  was  one  of 
those  who  had  been  helped  by  the  New  England 
Emigrant  Aid  Society,  an  organization  with  head- 
quarters in  the  Eastern  States,  and  with  agents  in 
the  West.  He  had  been  fitted  out  at  Council 
Bluffs,  Iowa,  but  for  some  unexplained  reason  had 
wandered  down  as  far  south  as  Kansas  City,  and 
there  had  boarded  the  "Black  Eagle"  with  his 
family  and  outfit.  One  of  the  two  men  with  him 


TIDINGS  FROM  THE  FRONT.  57 

was  his  brother;  the  other  was  a  neighbor  who 
had  cast  in  his  lot  with  him.  The  tall  lad  was 
John  Clark's  nephew. 

In  one  way  or  another,  Clark  had  managed  to 
pick  up  much  gossip  about  the  country  and  what 
was  going  on.  At  Tecumseh,  where  they  would 
be  due  in  a  day  or  two  if  they  continued  on  this 
road,  an  election  for  county  officers  was  to  be  held 
soon,  and  the  Missourians  were  bound  to  get  in 
there  and  carry  the  election.  Clark  thought  they 
had  better  not  go  straight  forward  into  danger. 
They  could  turn  off,  and  go  west  by  way  of 
Topeka. 

"Why,  that  would  be  worse  than  going  to 
Tecumseh,"  interjected  Charlie,  who  had  modestly 
kept  out  of  the  discussion.  "  Topeka  is  the  free- 
State  capital,  and  they  say  that  there  is  sure  to  be 
a  big  battle  there,  sooner  or  later." 

But  Mr.  Bryant  resolved  that  he  would  go  west 
by  the  way  of  Tecumseh,  no  matter  if  fifty  thou- 
sand Borderers  were  encamped  there.  He  asked 
the  stranger  if  he  had  in  view  any  definite  point ; 
to  which  Clark  replied  that  he  had  been  thinking 
of  going  up  the  Little  Blue;  he  had  heard  that 
there  was  plenty  of  good  vacant  land  there,  and 
the  land  office  would  open  soon.  He  had  in- 
tended, he  said,  to  go  to  Manhattan,  and  start 
from  there ;  but  since  they  had  been  so  cowardly 
as  to  change  the  name  of  the  place,  he  had  "  rather 
soured  on  it." 


58  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

"Manhattan?"  exclaimed  Charlie,  eagerly. 
"Where  is  that  place?  We  have  asked  a  good 
many  people,  hut  nobody  can  tell  us." 

"  Good  reason  why ;  they've  gone  and  changed 
the  name.  It  used  to  be  Boston,  but  the  settlers 
around  there  were  largely  from  Missouri.  The 
company  were  Eastern  men,  and  when  they  settled 
on  the  name  of  Boston,  it  got  around  that  they 
were  all  abolitionists ;  and  so  they  changed  it  to 
Manhattan.  Why  they  didn't  call  it  New  York, 
and  be  done  with  it,  is  more  than  I  can  tell.  But 
it  was  Boston,  and  it  is  Manhattan ;  and  that's  all 
I  want  to  know  about  that  place." 

Mr.  Bryant  was  equally  sure  that  he  did  not  want 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  a  place  that  had  changed 
its  name  through  fear  of  anybody  or  anything. 

Next  day  there  was  a  general  changing  of  minds, 
however.  It  was  Sunday,  and  the  emigrants,  a 
God-fearing  and  reverent  lot  of  people,  did  not 
move  out  of  camp.  Others  had  come  in  during 
the  night,  for  this  was  a  famous  camping-place, 
well  known  throughout  all  the  region.  Here  were 
wood,  water,  and  grass,  the  three  requisites  for 
campers,  as  they  had  already  found.  The  country 
was  undulating,  interlaced  with  creeks ;  and  groves 
of  black-jack,  oak,  and  cottonwood  were  here  and 
there  broken  by  open  glades  that  would  be  smil- 
ing fields  some  day,  but  were  now  wild  native 
grasses. 

There  was  a  preacher  in  the  camp,  a  good  man 


TIDINGS  FROM  THE  FKONT.  59 

from  New  England,  who  preached  about  the  Pjl 
grim's  Progress  through  the  world,  and  the  trials 
he  meets  by  the  way.  Oscar  pulled  his  father's 
sleeve,  and  asked  why  he  did  not  ask  the  preacher 
to  give  out  "  The  Kansas  Emigrant's  Song  "  as  a 
hymn.  Mr.  Bryant  smiled,  and  whispered  that  it 
was  hardly  likely  that  the  lines  would  be  consid- 
ered just  the  thing  for  a  religious  service.  But 
after  the  preaching  was  over,  and  the  little  com- 
pany was  breaking  up,  he  told  the  preacher  what 
Oscar  had  said.  The  minister's  eyes  sparkled, 
and  he  replied,  "  What  ?  Have  you  that  beautiful 
hymn?  Let  us  have  it  now  and  here.  Nothing 
could  be  better  for  this  day  and  this  time." 

Oscar,  blushing  with  excitement  and  native 
modesty,  was  put  up  high  on  the  stump  of  a  tree, 
and,  violin  in  hand,  "raised  the  tune."  It  was 
grand  old  "  Dundee."  Almost  everybody  seemed 
to  know  the  words  of  Whittier's  poem,  and  beneath 
the  blue  Kansas  sky,  amid  the  groves  of  Kansas 
trees,  the  sturdy,  hardy  men  and  the  few  pale 
women  joyfully,  almost  tearfully,  sang, — 

We  crossed  the  prairie,  as  of  old 

The  pilgrims  crossed  the  sea, 
To  make  the  West,  as  they  the  East, 

The  homestead  of  the  free ! 

We  go  to  rear  a  wall  of  men 

On  freedom's  Southern  line, 
And  plant  beside  the  cotton-tree 

The  rugged  Northern  pine! 


60  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

We're  flowing  from  our  native  hills 

As  our  free  rivers  flow; 
The  blessing  of  our  Mother-land 

Is  on  us  as  we  go. 

We  go  to  plant  her  common  schools 

On  distant  prairie  swells, 
And  give  the  Sabbaths  of  the  wild 

The  music  of  her  bells. 

Upbearing,  like  the  Ark  of  old, 

The  Bible  in  our  van, 
We  go  to  test  the  truth  of  God 

Against  the  fraud  of  man. 

No  pause,  nor  rest,  save  where  the  streams 

That  feed  the  Kansas  run, 
Save  where  our  pilgrim  gonfalon 

Shall  flout  the  setting  sun ! 

We'll  tread  the  prairie  as  of  old 

Our  fathers  sailed  the  sea, 
And  make  the  West,  as  they  the  East, 

The  homestead  of  the  free ! 

"It  was  good  to  be  there,"  said  Alexander 
Howell,  his  hand  resting  lovingly  on  Oscar's 
shoulder,  as  they  went  back  to  camp.  But  Oscar's 
father  said  never  a  word.  His  face  was  turned  to 
the  westward,  where  the  sunlight  was  fading  be- 
hind the  hills  of  the  far-off  frontier  of  the  Promised 
Land. 

The  general  opinion  gathered  that  day  was  that 
they  who  wanted  to  fight  for  freedom  might  better 
go  to  Lawrence,  or  to  Topeka.  Those  who  were 


TIDINGS  FROM  THE  FRONT.  61 

bent  on  finding  homes  for  themselves  and  little 
ones  should  press  on  further  to  the  west,  where 
there  was  land  in  plenty  to  be  had  for  the  asking, 
or,  rather,  for  the  pre-empting.  So,  when  Monday 
morning  came,  wet,  murky,  and  depressing,  Bryant 
surrendered  to  the  counsels  of  his  brother-in-law 
and  the  unspoken  wish  of  the  boys,  and  agreed  to 
go  on  to  the  newly-surveyed  lands  on  the  tribu- 
taries of  the  Kaw.  They  had  heard  good  reports 
of  the  region  lying  westward  of  Manhattan  and 
Fort  Riley.  The  town  that  had  changed  its  name 
was  laid  out  at  the  confluence  of  the  Kaw  and 
the  Big  Blue.  Fort  Riley  was  some  eighteen  or 
twenty  miles  to  the  westward,  near  the  junction  of 
the  streams  that  form  the  Kaw,  known  as  Smoky 
Hill  Fork  and  the  Republican  Fork.  On  one  or 
the  other  of  these  forks,  the  valleys  of  which  were 
said  to  be  fertile  and  beautiful  beyond  description, 
the  emigrants  would  ftni  a  home.  So,  braced  and 
inspired  by  the  consciousness  of  having  a  definite 
and  settled  plan,  the  Dixon  party  set  for^h  on 
Monday  morning,  through  the  rain  and 
faces  to  the  westward. 


THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WESTWABD  HO! 

THE  following  two  or  three  days  were  wet  and 
uncomfortable.  Rain  fell  in  torrents  at  times,  and 
when  it  did  not  rain  the  ground  was  steamy, 
and  the  emigrants  had  a  hard  time  to  find  spots 
dry  enough  on  which  to  make  up  their  beds  at 
night.  This  was  no  holiday  journey,  and  the  boys, 
too  proud  to  murmur,  exchanged  significant  nods 
and  winks  when  they  found  themselves  overtaken 
by  the  discomforts  of  camping  and  travelling  in 
the  storm.  For  the  most  part,  they  kept  in  camp 
during  the  heaviest  of  the  rain.  They  found  that 
the  yokes  of  the  oxen  chafed  the  poor  animals' 
necks  when  wet. 

And  then  the  mud !  Nobody  had  ever  seen  such 
mud,  they  thought,  not  even  on  the  black  and 
greasy  fat  lands  of  an  Illinois  prairie.  Sometimes 
the  wagon  sunk  in  the  road,  cut  up  by  innumera- 
ble wheels,  so  that  the  hubs  of  their  wheels  were 
almost  even  with  the  surface,  and  it  was  with  the 
greatest  diflficulty  that  their  four  yoke  of  oxen 
dragged  the  wagon  from  its  oozy  bed.  At  times, 
too,  they  were  obliged  to  unhitch  their  team  and 


WESTWARD  HO!  63 

help  out  of  a  mud-hole  some  other  less  fortunate 
brother  wayfarer,  whose  team  was  not  so  powerful 
as  their  own. 

One  unlucky  day,  fording  a  narrow  creek  with 
steep  banks,  they  had  safely  got  across,  when  they 
encountered  a  slippery  incline  up  which  the  oxen 
could  not  climb ;  it  was  "  as  slippery  as  a  glare  of 
ice,"  Charlie  said,  and  the  struggling  cattle  sank 
nearly  to  their  knees  in  their  frantic  efforts  to 
reach  the  top  of  the  bank.  The  wagon  had  been 
"  blocked  up,"  that  is  to  say,  the  wagon-box  raised 
in  its  frame  or  bed  above  the  axles,  with  blocks 
driven  underneath,  to  lift  it  above  the  level  of  the 
stream.  As  the  vehicle  was  dragged  out  of  the 
creek,  the  leading  yoke  of  cattle  struggling  up 
the  bank  and  then  slipping  back  again,  the  whole 
team  of  oxen  suddenly  became  panic-stricken,  as 
it  were,  and  rushed  back  to  the  creek  in  wild  con- 
fusion. The  wagon  twisted  upon  itself,  and  cramped 
together,  creaked,  groaned,  toppled,  and  fell  over 
in  a  heap,  its  contents  being  shot  out  before  and 
behind  into  the  mud  and  water. 

"Great  Scott!"  yelled  Sandy.  "Let  me  stop 
those  cattle ! "  Whereupon  the  boy  dashed  through 
the  water,  and,  running  around  the  hinder  end  of 
the  wagon,  he  attempted  to  head  off  the  cattle. 
But  the  animals,  having  gone  as  far  as  they  could 
without  breaking  their  chains  or  the  wagon-tongue, 
which  fortunately  held,  stood  sullenly  by  the  side 
of  the  wreck  they  had  made,  panting  with  their 
exertions. 


64  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"  Here  is  a  mess ! "  said  his  father  j  but,  with- 
out more  words,  he  unhitched  the  oxen  and  drove 
them  up  the  bank.  The  rest  of  the  party  hastily 
picked  up  the  articles  that  were  drifting  about,  or 
were  lodged  in  the  mud  of  the  creek.  It  was  a 
sorry  sight,  and  the  boys  forgot,  in  the  excitement 
of  the  moment,  the  discomforts  and  annoyances 
of  their  previous  experiences.  This  was  a  real 
misfortune. 

But  while  Oscar  and  Sandy  were  excitedly  dis- 
cussing what  was  next  to  be  done,  Mr.  Howell 
took  charge  of  things;  the  wagon  was  righted, 
and  a  party  of  emigrants,  camped  in  a  grove  of 
cottonwoods  just  above  the  ford,  came  down  with 
ready  offers  of  help.  Eight  yoke  of  cattle  instead 
of  four  were  now  hitched  to  the  wagon,  and,  to 
use  the  expressive  language  of  the  West,  the  outfit 
was  "  snaked "  out  of  the  hole  in  double-quick 
time. 

"Ho,  ho,  hoi  Uncle  Charlie,"  laughed  Sandy, 
"  you  look  as  if  you  had  been  dragged  through 
a  slough.  You  are  just  painted  with  mud  from 
top  to  toe.  Well,  I  never  did  see  such  a  looking 
scarecrow  I " 

"It's  lucky  you  haven't  any  looking-glass  here, 
young  Impudence.  If  you  could  see  your  mother's 
boy  now,  you  wouldn't  know  him.  Talk  about 
looks  I  Take  a  look  at  the  youngster,  mates," 
said  Uncle  Charlie,  bursting  into  a  laugh.  A  gen- 
eral roar  followed  the  look,  for  Sandy's  appearance 


WESTWAED  HO!  65 

was  indescribable.  In  his  wild  rush  through  the 
waters  of  the  creek,  he  had  covered  himself  from 
hea^  to  foot,  and  the  mud  from  the  wagon  had 
pamted  his  face  a  brilliant  brown;  for  there  is 
more  or  less  of  red  oxide  of  iron  in  the  mud  of 
Kansas  creeks. 

It  was  a  doleful  party  that  pitched  its  tent  that 
night  on  the  banks  of  Soldier  Creek  and  attempted 
to  dry  clothes  and  provisions  by  the  feeble  heat  of 
a  little  sheet-iron  stove.  Only  Sandy,  the  irre- 
pressible and  unconquerable  Sandy,  preserved  his 
good  temper  through  ths  trying  experience.  "  It 
is  a  part  of  the  play,"  he  said,  "  and  anybody  who 
thinks  that  crossing  the  prairie,  '  as  of  old  the  pil- 
grims crossed  the  sea,'  is  a  Sunday-school  picnic, 
might  better  try  it  with  the  Dixon  emigrants; 
that's  all." 

But,  after  a  very  moist  and  disagreeable  night, 
the  sky  cleared  in  the  morning.  Oscar  was  out 
early,  looking  at  the  sky;  and  when  he  shouted 
"  Westward  ho ! "  with  a  stentorian  voice,  every- 
body came  tumbling  out  to  see  what  was  the  mat- 
ter. A  long  line  of  white-topped  wagons  with 
four  yoke  of  oxen  to  each,  eleven  teams  all  told, 
was  stringing  its  way  along  the  muddy  road  in 
which  the  red  sun  was  reflected  in  pools  of  red 
liquid  mud  The  wagons  were  overflowing  with 
small  children ;  coops  of  fowls  swung  from  behind, 
and  a  general  air  of  thriftiness  seemed  to  be  char- 
acteristic of  the  "ompany. 


66  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"Which  way  are  you  bound?"  asked  Oscar, 
cheerily. 

"  Up  the  Smoky  Hill  Fork,"  replied  one  of  the 
ox-drivers.  "  Solomon's  Fork,  perhaps,  but  some- 
where in  that  region,  anyway." 

One  of  the  company  lingered  behind  to  see  what 
manner  of  people  these  were  who  were  so  comfort- 
ably camped  out  in  a  wall-tent.  When  he  had 
satisfied  his  curiosity,  he  explained  that  his  com- 
panions had  come  from  northern  Ohio,  and  were 
bound  to  lay  out  a  town  of  their  own  in  the  Smoky 
Hill  region.  Oscar,  who  listened  while  his  father 
drew  this  information  from  the  stranger,  recalled 
the  fact  that  the  Smoky  Hill  and  the  Republican 
Forks  were  the  branches  of  the  Kaw.  Solomon's 
Fork,  he  now  learned,  was  one  of  the  tributaries  of 
the  Smoky  Hill,  nearer  to  the  Republican  Fork 
than  to  the  main  stream.  So  he  said  to  his  father, 
when  the  Ohio  man  had  passed  on :  "  If  they  settle 
on  Solomon's  Fork,  won't  they  be  neighbors  of 
ours,  daddy  ?  " 

Mr.  Bryant  took  out  a  little  map  of  the  Terri- 
tory that  he  had  in  his  knapsack,  and,  after  some 
study,  made  up  his  mind  that  the  newcomers 
would  not  be  "  neighbors  enough  to  hurt,"  if  they 
came  no  nearer  the  Republican  than  Solomon's 
Fork.  About  thirty-five  miles  west  and  south  of 
Fort  Riley,  which  is  at  the  junction  of  the  Smoky 
Hill  and  the  Republican,  Solomon's  Fork  branches 
off  to  the  northwest.  Settlers  anywhere  along 


WESTWARD  HO!  67 

that  line  would  not  be  nearer  the  other  fork  than 
eighteen  or  twenty  miles  at  the  nearest.  Charlie 
and  Sandy  agreed  with  Oscar  that  it  was  quite  as 
near  as  desirable  neighbors  should  be.  The  lads 
were  already  learning  something  of  the  spirit  of 
the  West.  They  had  heard  of  the  man  who  had 
moved  westward  when  another  settler  drove  his 
stakes  twenty  miles  from  his  claim,  because  the 
country  was  "  gettin'  too  crowded." 

That  day,  passing  through  the  ragged  log  vil- 
lage of  Tecumseh,  they  got  their  first  letters  from, 
home.  When  they  left  Illinois,  they  had  not 
known  just  where  they  would  strike,  in  the  Terri- 
tory, but  they  had  resolved  that  they  would  not  go 
further  west  than  Tecumseh ;  and  here  they  were, 
with  their  eyes  still  fixed  toward  the  west.  No 
matter ;  just  now,  news  from  home  was  to  be  de- 
voured before  anybody  could  talk  of  the  possible 
Kansas  home  that  yet  loomed  before  them  in  the  dim 
distance.  How  good  it  was  to  learn  all  about  the 
dear  ones  left  at  home ;  to  find  that  Bose  was  keep- 
ing guard  around  the  house  as  if  he  knew  that  he 
was  the  protector  of  the  two  mothers  left  to  them- 
selves in  one  home ;  to  hear  that  the  brindle  calf  had 
grown  very  large,  and  that  a  circus  was  coming  to 
town  the  very  next  day  after  the  letter  was  written ! 

"That  circus  has  come  and  gone  without  our 
seeing  it,"  said  Sandy,  solemnly. 

"  Sandy  is  as  good  as  a  circus,  any  day,"  said  his 
uncle,  fondly.  "  The  greatest  show  in  the  country 


68  THE  SOT  SETTLERS. 

would  have  been  willing  to  hire  you  for  a  aigln, 
fixed  out  as  you  were  last  night,  after  we  had  that 
upset  in  the  creek."  The  boys  agreed  that  it  was 
lucky  for  all  hands  that  the  only  looking-glass  in 
camp  was  the  little  bit  of  one  hidden  away  in 
Uncle  Charlie's  shaving-case. 

The  next  day,  to  their  great  discomfiture,  they 
blundered  upon  a  county  election.  Trudging  into 
Libertyville,  one  of  the  new  mushroom  towns 
springing  up  along  the  military  road  that  leads 
from  Fort  Leavenworth  to  Fort  Riley,  they  found 
a  great  crowd  of  people  gathered  around  a  log- 
house,  in  which  the  polls  were  open.  Country 
officers  were  to  be  chosen,  and  the  pro-slavery 
men,  as  the  Borderers  were  now  called  in  this  part 
of  the  country,  had  rallied  in  great  numbers  to 
carry  the  election  for  their  men.  All  was  confu- 
sion and  tumult.  Rough-looking  men,  well  armed 
and  generally  loud  voiced,  with  slouched  hats  and 
long  beards,  were  galloping  about,  shouting  and 
making  all  the  noise  possible,  for  no  purpose  that 
could  be  discovered.  "  Hooray  for  Cap'n  Pate !  " 
was  the  only  intelligible  cry  that  the  newcomers 
could  hear ;  but  who  Captain  Pate  was,  and  why 
he  should  be  hurrahed  for,  nobody  seemed  to 
know.  He  was  not  a  candidate  for  anything. 

"Hullo I"  there's  our  Woburn  friend,  John 
Clark,"  said  Mr.  Howell.  Sure  enough,  there  he 
was  with  a  vote  in  his  hand  going  up  to  the  cabin 
where  the  polls  were  open.  A  lane  was  formed 


WESTWARD  HO!  69 

through  the  crowd  of  men  who  lounged  about  the 
cabin,  so  that  a  man  going  up  to  the  door  to  vote 
was  obliged  to  run  the  gauntlet,  as  it  were,  of  one 
hundred  men,  or  more,  before  he  reached  the  door, 
the  lower  half  of  which  was  boarded  up  and  the 
upper  half  left  open  for  the  election  officers  to 
take  and  deposit  the  ballots. 

"  I  don't  believe  that  man  has  any  right  to  vote 
here,"  said  Charlie,  with  an  expression  of  disgust 
on  his  face.  "  Why,  he  came  into  the  Territory 
with  us,  only  the  other  day,  and  he  said  he  was 
going  up  on  the  Big  Blue  to  settle,  and  here  he  is 
trying  to  vote !  " 

"Well,"  said  Uncle  Charlie,  "I  allow  he  has 
just  as  good  a  right  to  vote  as  any  of  these  men 
who  are  running  the  election.  I  saw  some  of 
these  very  i^en  come  riding  in  from  Missouri, 
when  we  were  one  day  out  of  Quindaro."  As  he 
spoke,  John  Clark  had  reached  the  voting-place, 
pursued  by  many  rough  epithets  flung  after  him. 

He  paused  before  the  half-barricaded  door  and 
presented  his  ballot.  "  Let's  see  yer  ticket !  '* 
shouted  one  of  the  men  who  stood  guard,  one 
either  side  of  the  cabin-door.  He  snatched  it  from 
Clark's  hand,  looked  at  it,  and  simply  said, "  H'ist ! " 
The  man  on  the  other  side  of  the  would-be  voter 
grinned ;  then  both  men  seized  the  Woburn  man 
by  his  arms  and  waist,  and,  before  he  could  realize 
what  was  happening,  he  was  flung  up  to  the  edge 
of  the  roof  that  projected  over  the  low  door.  Two 


70  THE  BOY  SETTLEES. 

other  men  sitting  there  grabbed  the  newcomer  by 
the  shoulders  and  passed  him  up  the  roof  to  two 
others,  who,  straddling  the  ridge-pole,  were  wait- 
ing for  him.  Then  the  unfortunate  Clark  disap- 
peared over  the  top  of  the  cabin,  sliding  down  out 
of  sight  on  the  farther  side.  The  mob  set  up  a 
wild  cheer,  and  some  of  them  shouted,  "We  don't 
want  any  Yankee  votes  in  this  yer  'lection  !  " 

"  Shameful !  Shameful !  "  burst  forth  from  Mr. 
Bryant.  "I  have  heard  of  such  things  before 
now,  but  I  must  say  I  never  thought  I  should  see 
it."  He  turned  angrily  to  his  brother-in-law  as 
Mr.  Howell  joined  the  boys  in  their  laugh. 

"  How  can  you  laugh  at  such  a  shameful  sight, 
Aleck  Howell?  I'm  sure  it's  something  to  cry 
over,  rather  than  to  laugh  at  —  a  spectacle  like 
that !  A  free  American  citizen  hustled  away  from 
the  polls  in  that  disgraceful  fashion ! " 

"But,  Charlie,"  said  Uncle  Aleck,  "you'll  admit 
that  it  was  funny  to  see  the  Woburn  man  hoisted 
over  that  cabin.  Besides,  I  don't  believe  he  has 
any  right  to  vote  here  ;  do  you  ?  " 

"He  would  have  been  allowed  to  vote  fast 
enough  if  he  had  had  the  sort  of  ballot  that  those 
fellows  want  to  go  into  the  box.  They  looked  at 
his  ballot,  and  as  soon  as  they  saw  what  it  was, 
they  threw  him  over  the  cabin." 

Just  then,  John  Clark  came  back  from  the 
ravine  into  which  he  had  slid  from  the  roof  of  the 
log-house,  looking  very  much  crestfallen.  He  ex« 


THE   POLLS  AT   LIBERTYVILLE.     THE  WOBURN    MAN   is 
"HOISTED"   OVER  THE  CABIN. 


WESTWARD  HOI  71 

plained  that  lie  had  met  some  pro-slavery  men  on 
the  road  that  morning,  and  they  had  told  him  he 
could  vote,  if  he  chose,  and  they  had  furnished 
him  with  the  necessary  ballot. 

"They  took  in  my  clothes  at  a  glance,"  said 
Clark,  "  and  they  seemed  to  suppose  that  a  man 
with  butternut  homespun  was  true-blue ;  so  they 
didn't  ask  any  questions.  I  got  a  free-State  ballot 
from  another  man  and  was  a-goin'  to  plump  it  in ; 
but  they  were  too  smart  for  me,  and  over  I  went. 
No,  don't  you  worry ;  I  ain't  a-goin'  up  there  to  try 
it  ag'in,"  he  said,  angrily,  to  an  insolent  horseman, 
who,  riding  up,  told  him  not  to  venture  near  the 
polls  again  if  he  "  did  not  want  to  be  kicked  out 
like  a  dog." 

"  Come  on,  neighbor ;  let's  be  goin',"  he  said  to 
Uncle  Aleck.  "I've  had  enough  voting  for  to- 
day. Let's  light  out  of  this  town."  Then  the 
men,  taking  up  their  ox-goads,  drove  out  of  town. 
They  had  had  their  first  sight  of  the  struggle  for 
freedom. 


72  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER 

AT  THE  DIVIDING  OP  THE  WAYS. 

THE  military  road,  of  which  I  have  just  spoken, 
was  constructed  by  the  United  States  Government 
to  connect  the  military  posts  of  the  Far  West  with 
one  another.  Beginning  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  on 
the  Missouri  River,  it  passed  through  Fort  Riley 
at  the  junction  of  the  forks  of  the  Kaw,  and  then, 
still  keeping  up  the  north  side  of  the  Republican 
Fork,  went  on  to  Fort  Kearney,  still  farther  west, 
then  to  Fort  Laramie,  which  in  those  days  was  so 
far  on  the  frontier  of  our  country  that  few  people 
ever  saw  it  except  military  men  and  the  emigrants 
to  California.  At  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing, 
there  had  been  a  very  heavy  emigration  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  companies  of  emigrants,  bound  to  the 
Golden  Land,  still  occasionally  passed  along  the 
great  military  road. 

Interlacing  this  highway  were  innumerable  trails 
and  wagon-tracks,  the  traces  of  the  great  migration 
to  the  Eldorado  of  the  Pacific ;  and  here  and  there 
were  the  narrow  trails  made  by  Indians  on  their 
hunting  expeditions  and  warlike  excursions.  Roads, 
such  as  our  emigrants  had  been  accustomed  to  in 


AT  THE  DIVIDING   OF  THE  WATS.          73 

Illinois,  there  were  none.  First  came  the  faint 
traces  of  human  feet  and  of  unshod  horses  and 
ponies;  then  the  well-defined  trail  of  hunters, 
trappers,  and  Indians ;  then  the  wagon-track  of  the 
military  trains,  which,  in  course  of  time,  were 
smoothed  and  formed  into  the  military  road  kept 
in  repair  by  the  United  States  Government. 

Following  this  road,  the  Dixon  emigrants  came 
upon  the  broad,  bright,  and  shallow  stream  of  the 
Big  Blue.  Fording  this,  they  drove  into  the  rough, 
no\v  settlement  of  Manhattan,  lately  built  at  the 
junction  of  the  Blue  and  the  Kaw  rivers. 

It  was  a  beautiful  May  day  when  the  travellers 
entered  Manhattan.  It  was  an  active  and  a  prom- 
ising town.  Some  attempt  at  the  laying  out  of 
streets  had  been  made.  A  long,  low  building, 
occupied  as  a  hotel,  was  actually  painted,  and  on 
some  of  the  shanties  and  rude  huts  of  the  newly 
arrived  settlers  were  signs  giving  notice  of  hard- 
ware, groceries,  and  other  commodities  for  sale 
within.  On  one  structure,  partly  made  of  sawed 
boards  and  partly  of  canvas,  was  painted  in  sprawl- 
ing letters,  "  Counsellor  at  Law." 

"You'll  find  those  fellows  out  in  the  Indian 
country,"  grimly  remarked  one  of  the  settlers,  a« 
the  party  surveyed  this  evidence  of  an  advancing 
civilization. 

There  was  a  big  steam  saw-mill  hard  by  the 
town,  and  the  chief  industry  of  Manhattan  seemed 
to  be  the  buying  and  selling  of  lumber  and  hard- 


74  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

ware,  and  the  surveying  of  land.  Mounted  men, 
carrying  the  tools  and  instruments  of  the  surveyor, 
galloped  about.  Few  wheeled  vehicles  except  the 
ox-carts  of  emigrants  were  to  be  seen  anywhere, 
and  the  general  aspect  of  the  place  was  that  of 
feverish  activity.  Along  the  banks  of  the  two 
streams  were  camped  parties  of  the  latest  comers, 
many  of  whom  had  brought  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren with  them.  Parties  made  up  of  men  only  sel- 
dom came  as  lar  west  as  this.  They  pitched  their 
tents  nearer  the  Missouri,  where  the  fight  lor 
freedom  raged  most  hotly.  A  few  companies  of 
men  did  reach  the  westernmost  edge  of  the  new 
settlements,  and  the  Manhattan  Company  was  one 
of  these. 

The  three  boys  from  Illinois  were  absorbed  with 
wonder  as  they  strolled  around  the  new  town, 
taking  in  the  novel  sights,  as  they  would  if  they 
had  been  in  a  great  city,  instead  of  a  mushroom 
town  that  had  arisen  in  a  night.  During  their 
journey  from  Libertyville  to  Manhattan,  the  Dixon 
ei^xigrants  had  lost  sight  of  John  Clark,  of  Woburn ; 
he  had  hurried  on  ahead  after  his  rough  experience 
with  the  election  guardians  of  Libertyville.  The 
boys  were  wondering  if  he  had  reached  Manhattan. 

"  Hullo !  There  he  is  now,  with  all  his  family 
around  him,"  said  Charlie.  "  He's  got  here  before 
us,  and  can  tell  all  about  the  lay  of  the  land  to  the 
rest  of  us,  I  dare  say." 

ll  have  about  made  up  my  mind  to  squat  on 


AT  THE  DIVIDING  OF  THE  WATS.          75 

Hunter's  Creek,"  said  Clark,  when  the  boys  had 
saluted  him.  "  Pretty  good  land  on  Hunter's,  so 
I  am  told;  no  neighbors,  and  the  land  has  been 
surveyed  off  by  the  Government  surveyors.  Hun- 
ter's Creek?  Well,  that's  about  six  miles  above 
the  fort.  It  makes  into  the  Republican,  and,  so 
they  tell  me,  there's  plenty  of  wood  along  the 
creek,  and  a  good  lot  of  oak  and  hickory  not  far 
oft.  Timber  is  what  we  all  want,  you  know." 

As  for  Bartlett,  who  had  come  out  from  New 
England  with  the  Clarks,  he  was  inclined  to  go  to 
the  lower  side  of  the  Republican  Fork,  taking  to 
the  Smoky  Hill  country.  That  was  the  destina- 
tion of  the  Jenness  party,  who  had  passed  the 
Dixon  boys  when  they  were  camped  after  their 
upset  in  the  creek,  several  days  before.  This 
would  leave  the  Clarks  —  John  and  his  wife  and 
two  children,  and  his  brother  Jotham,  and  Jotham's 
boy,  Pelatiah  —  to  make  a  settlement  by  them- 
selves on  Hunter's  Creek. 

Which  way  were  the  Dixon  boys  going?  Char- 
lie, the  spokesman  of  the  party  because  he  was  the 
eldest,  did  not  know.  His  father  and  uncle  were 
out  prospecting  among  the  campers  now.  Sandy 
was  sure  that  they  would  go  up  the  Republican 
Fork.  His  father  had  met  one  of  the  settlers  from 
that  region,  and  had  been  very  favorably  impressed 
with  his  report.  This  Republican  Fork  man  was 
an  Arkansas  man,  but  "  a  good  fellow,"  so  Sandy 
said.  To  be  a  good  fellow,  according  to  Sandy's 


76  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

way  of  putting  things,  was  to  be  worthy  of  all 
confidence  and  esteem. 

Mr.  Bryant  thought  that  as  there  were  growing 
rumors  of  troublesome  Indians,  it  would  be  better 
to  take  the  southern  or  Smoky  Hill  route;  the 
bulk  of  the  settlers  were  going  that  way,  »nd  where 
there  were  large  numbers  there  would  be  safety. 
While  the  lads  were  talking  with  the  Clarks, 
Bryant  and  his  brother-in-law  came  up,  and,  after 
greeting  their  former  acquaintance  and  ascertaining 
whither  he  was  bound,  Mr.  Howell  told  the  boys 
that  they  had  been  discussing  the  advantages  of 
the  two  routes  with  Younkins,  the  settler  from 
Republican  Fork,  and  had  decided  to  go  on  to 
"the  post,"  as  Fort  Riley  was  generally  called, 
and  there  decide  which  ^ray  they  should  go  —  to 
the  right  or  to  the  left-, 

As  to  the  Clarks,  they  were  determined  to  take 
the  trail  for  Hunter's  Creek  that  very  day.  Bart- 
lett  decided  to  go  to  the  Smoky  Hill  country.  He 
cast  in  his  lot  with  a  party  of  Western  men,  who 
had  heard  glowing  reports  of  the  fertility  and 
beauty  of  the  region  lying  along  Solomon's  Fork, 
a  tributary  of  the  Smoky  Hill.  It  was  in  this  way 
that  parties  split  up  after  they  had  entered  the 
Promised  Land. 

Leaving  the  Clarks  to  hitch  up  their  teams  and 
part  company  with  Bartlett,  the  Dixon  party  re- 
turned to  their  camp,  left  temporarily  in  the  care 
o£  YQunkins,  who  had  come  to  Manhattan  for  a 


AT  THE  DIVIDING   OF  THE  WAY8.          77 

few  supplies,  and  who  had  offered  to  guide  the 
others  to  a  desirable  place  for  settlement  which 
he  told  them  he  had  in  mind  for  them.  Younkins 
was  a  kindly  and  pleasant-faced  man,  simple  in  his 
speech  and  frontier-like  in  his  manners.  Sandy 
conceived  a  strong  liking  for  him  as  soon  as  they 
met.  The  hoy  and  the  man  were  friends  at  once. 

"Well,  you  see,"  said  Younkins,  sitting  down 
on  the  wagon-tongue,  when  the  party  had  returned 
to  their  camp,  "I  hare  been  thinking  over-like  the 
matter  that  we  were  talking  about,  and  I  have 
made  up  my  mind-like  that  I  sha'a't  move  back  to 
my  claim  on  the  south  side  of  the  Republican.  I'm 
on  the  north  side,  you  know,  and  my  old  claim  on 
the  south  side  will  do  just  right  for  my  brother 
Ben;  he's  coming  out  in  the  fall.  Now  if  you 
want  to  go  up  our  way,  you  can  have  the  cabin  on 
that  claim.  There's  nobody  living  in  it.  It's  no 
great  of  a  cabin,  but  it's  built  of  hewed  timber, 
well  chinked  and  comfortable-like.  You  can  have 
it  till  Ben  comes  out,  and  I'm  just  a-keeping  it  for 
Ben,  you  know.  P'raps  he  won't  want  it,  and  if 
he  doesn't,  why,  then  you  and  he  can  make  some 
kind  of  a  dicker-like,  and  you  might  stay  on  till 
you  could  do  better." 

*'  That's  a  very  generous  offer  of  Mr.  Younkins's, 
Charles,"  said  Mr.  Howell  to  Bryant.  "I  don't 
believe  we  could  do  better  than  take  it  up." 

"No,  indeed,"  burst  in  the  impetuous  Sandy. 
•*  Why,  just  think  of  it  I  A  house  already  built  I " 


78  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

u  Little  boys  should  be  seen,  not  heard,'*  said  his 
el<*er  brother,  reprovingly.  "Suppose  you  and  I 
wait  to  see  what  the  old  folks  have  to  say  before 
we  chip  in  with  any  remarks." 

"Oh,  I  know  what  Uncle  Charlie  will  say," 
replied  the  lad,  undismayed.  "  He'll  say  that  the 
Smoky  Hill  road  is  the  road  to  take.  Say,  Uncle 
Charlie,  you  see  that  Mr.  Younkins  here  is  willing 
to  live  all  alone  on  the  bank  of  the  Republican 
Fork,  without  any  neighbors  at  all.  He  isn't  afraid 
of  Indians." 

Mr.  Bryant  biniled,  and  said  that  he  was  not 
afraid  of  Indians,  but  he  thought  that  there  might 
come  a  time  when  it  would  be  desirable  for  a  com- 
munity to  stand  together  as  one  man.  "  Are  you 
a  free-State  man?"  he  asked  Younkins.  This 
was  a  home-thrust.  Younkins  came  from  a  slave 
State ;  he  was  probably  a  pro-slavery  man. 

"I'm  neither  a  free-State  man  nor  yet  a  pro- 
slavery  man,"  he  said,  slowly,  and  with  great  de- 
liberation. "  I'm  just  for  Younkins  all  the  time. 
Fact  is,"  he  continued.  "  where  I  came  from  most 
of  us  are  pore  whites.  I  never  owned  but  one 
darky,  and  I  had  him  from  my  grandfather.  Ben 
and  me,  we  sorter  quarrelled-like  over  that  darky. 
Ben,  he  thought  he  oughter  had  him,  and  I 
knowed  my  grandfather  left  him  to  me.  So  I  sold 
him  off,  and  the  neighbors  didn't  seein  to  like  it. 
I  don't  justly  know  why  they  didn't  like  it ;  but 
they  didn't.  Then  Ben,  he  allowed  that  I  had 


AT  THE  DIVIDING  OF  THE  WAYS.          79 

better  light  out.  So  I  lit  out,  and  here  I  am.  No, 
I'm  no  free-State  man,  and  then  ag'in,  I'm  no 
man  for  slavery.  I'm  just  for  Younkins.  Solomon 
Younkins  is  my  name." 

v  Bryant  was  very  clearly  prejudiced  in  favor 
of  the  settler  from  the  Republican  Fcrk  by  this 
speech ;  and  yet  he  thought  it  best  to  move  on  to 
the  fort  that  day  and  take  the  matter  into  con- 
sideration. 

So  he  said  that  if  Younkins  would  accept  the 
hospitality  of  their  tent,  the  Dixon  party  would 
be  glad  to  have  him  pass  the  night  with  them. 
Younkins  had  a  horse  on  which  he  had  ridden 
down  from  his  place,  and  with  which  he  had  in- 
tended to  reach  home  that  night.  But,  for  the 
sake  of  inducing  the  new  arrivals  to  go  up  into  his 
part  of  the  country,  he  was  willing  to  stay. 

44 1  should  think  you  would  be  afraid  to  leave 
your  wife  and  baby  all  alone  there  in  the  wilder- 
ness," said  Sandy,  regarding  his  new  friend  with 
evident  admiration.  "No  neighbor  nearer  than 
Hunter's  Creek,  did  you  say?  How  far  off  is 
that?" 

"  Well,  a  matter  of  six  miles-like,"  replied  Youn- 
kins. "  It  isn't  often  that  I  do  leave  them  alone 
over  night;  but  then  I  have  to  once  in  a  while. 
My  old  woman,  she  doesn't  mind  it.  She  was  sort 
of  skeary-like  when  she  first  came  into  the  coun- 
try ;  but  she's  got  used  to  it.  We  don't  want  any 
neighbors.  If  you  folks  come  up  to  settle,  you'll 


80  THE  EOT  SETTERS. 

be  on  #••>  other  side  of  the  river,"  he  said,  with 
unsmiling  candor.  "That's  near  enough  —  three 
Off  four  miles,  anyway." 

Fort  Riley  is  about  ten  miles  from  Manhattan, 
at  the  forks  of  the  Kaw.  It  was  a  long  drive  for 
one  afternoon ,  but  the  settlers  from  Illinois  camped 
on  the  edge  of  the  military  reservation  that  night. 
When  the  boys,  curious  to  see  what  the  fort  was 
like,  looked  over  the  premises  next  morning,  they 
were  somewhat  disappointed  to  find  that  the  post 
was  merely  a  quadrangle  of  buildings  constructed 
of  rough-hammered  stone,  A  few  frame  houses 
were  scattered  about.  On  3  ol  these  was  the  sut- 
ler's store,  just  on  the  edgs  of  the  reservation. 
x?ut,  for  the  most  part,  che  post  consisted  of  two- 
*  three-story  buildings  arranged  in  the  form  of 
a  hollow  square.  These  were  barracks,  officers' 
quarters,  and  depots  for  the  storage  of  military 
supplies  and  army  equipments. 

"  Why,  this  is  no  fort ! "  said  Oscar,  contemptu- 
ously. "  There  isn't  even  a  stockade.  What's  to 
prevent  a  band  of  Indians  raiding  through  the 
whole  place  ?  I  could  take  it  myself,  if  I  had  men 
enough."  * 

His  cousin  Charlie  laughed,  and  said:  "Forts 
are  not  built  out  here  nowadays  to  defend  a  gar- 
rison. The  army  men  don't  propose  to  let  the 
Indians  get  near  enough  to  the  post  to  threaten 
it.  The  fact  is,  I  guess,  this  fort  is  only  a  depot- 
like,  as  our  friend  Younkins  would  say,  for  the 


AT  THE  DIVIDING  OF  THE  WAYS.          81 

soldiers  and  for  military  stores.  They  don't  ex- 
pect ever  to  be  besieged  here ;  but  if  there  should 
happen  to  be  trouble  anywhere  along  the  frontier, 
then  the  soldiers  would  be  here,  ready  to  fly  out 
to  the  rescue,  don't  you  see  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Sandy  ;  "  and  when  a  part  of 
the  garrison  had  gone  to  the  rescue,  as  you  call 
it,  another  party  of  redskins  would  swoop  down 
and  gobble  up  the  remnant  left  at  the  post." 

'•If  I  were  you,  Master  Sandy,"  said  his  brother, 
"  I  wouldn't  worry  about  the  soldiers.  Uncle  Sam 
built  this  fort,  and  there  are  lots  of  others  like  it. 
I  don't  know  for  sure,  but  my  impression  is  that 
Uncle  Sam  knows  what  is  best  for  the  use  of  the 
military  and  for  the  defence  of  the  frontier.  So 
let's  go  and  take  a  look  at  the  sutler's  store.  I 
wan*,  to  buy  some  letter-paper." 

The  sutler,  in  those  days,  was  a  very  important 
person  in  the  estimation  of  the  soldiers  of  a  fron- 
tier post.  Under  a  license  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment of  the  Government,  he  kept  a  store  in  which 
was  everything  that  the  people  at  the  post  could 
possibly  need.  Crowded  into  the  long  building 
of  the  Fort  Riley  sutler  were  dry-goods,  groceries, 
hardware,  boots  and  shoes,  window-glass,  rope 
and  twine,  and  even  candy  of  a  very  poor  sort. 
Hanging  from  the  ceiling  of  this  queer  warehouse 
were  sides  of  smoked  meat,  strings  of  onions,  oil- 
cloth suits,  and  other  things  that  were  designed 
fOi  the  comfort  or  convenience  of  the  officers  and 


82  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

soldiers,  and  were  not  provided  by  the  Govern- 
ment. 

"I  wonder  what  soldiers  want  of  calico  and 
ribbons,"  whispered  Sandy,  with  a  suppressed 
giggle,  as  the  three  lads  went  prying  about. 

"  Officers  and  soldiers  have  their  wives  and 
children  here,  you  greeny,"  said  his  brother, 
sharply.  "Look  out  there  and  see  'em." 

And,  sure  enough,  as  Sandy's  eyes  followed  the 
direction  of  his  brother's,  he  saw  two  prettily 
dressed  ladies  and  a  group  of  children  walking 
over  the  smooth  turf  that  filled  the  square  in  the 
midst  of  the  fort.  It  gave  Sandy  a  homesick 
feeling,  this  sight  of  a  home  in  the  wilderness. 
Here  were  families  of  grown  people  and  children, 
living  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  They 
had  been  here  long  before  the  echo  of  civil  strife 
in  Kansas  had  reached  the  Eastern  States,  and 
before  the  first  wave  of  emigration  had  touched 
the  head-waters  of  the  Kaw.  Here  they  were, 
a  community  by  themselves,  uncaring,  apparently, 
whether  slavery  was  voted  up  or  down.  At  least, 
some  such  thought  as  this  flitted  through  Sandy's 
mind  as  he  looked  out  upon  the  leisurely  life  of 
the  fort,  just  beginning  to  stir. 

All  along  the  outer  margin  of  the  reservation 
were  grouped  the  camps  of  emigrants ;  not  many 
of  them,  but  enough  to  present  a  curious  and 
picturesque  sight.  There  were  a  few  tents,  but 
most  of  the  emigrants  slept  in  or  under  their 


AT  THE  DIVIDING  OF  THE  WAYS.          83 

wagons.  There  were  no  women  or  children  in 
these  camps,  and  the  hardy  men  had  been  so  well 
seasoned  by  their  past  experiences,  journeying  to 
this  far  western  part  of  the  Territory,  that  they 
did  not  mind  the  expccrore  of  sleeping  on  the 
ground  and  under  the  open  skies.  Soldiers  from 
the  fort,  off  duty  and  curious  to  hear  the  news 
from  the  outer  world,  came  lounging  around  the 
camps  and  chatted  with  the  emigrants  in  that 
cool,  superior  manner  that  marks  the  private  sol- 
dier when  he  meets  a  civilian  on  equal  footing, 
away  from  the  haunts  of  men. 

The  boys  regarded  these  uniformed  military 
servants  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
with  great  respect,  and  even  with  some  awe. 
These,  they  thought  to  themselves,  were  the  men 
who  were  there  to  fight  Indians,  to  protect  the 
border,  and  to  keep  back  the  rising  tide  of  wild 
hostilities  that  might,  if  it  were  not  for  them, 
sweep  down  upon  the  feeble  Territory  and  even 
inundate  the  whole  Western  country. 

"Perhaps  some  of  Black  Hawk's  descendants 
are  among  the  Indians  on  this  very  frontier,"  said 
Oscar,  impressively.  "  And  these  gold-laced  chaps, 
with  shoulder-straps  on,  are  the  Zack  Taylors  and 
the  Robert  Andersons  who  do  the  fighting,"  added 
Charlie,  with  a  laugh. 

Making  a  few  small  purchases  from  the  surly 
sutler  of  Fort  Riley,  and  then  canvassing  with  the 
emigrants  around  the  reservation  the  question  of 


84  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

routes  and  locations,  our  friends  passed  the  fore- 
noon. The  elders  of  the  party  had  anxiously  dis- 
cussed the  comparative  merits  of  the  Smoky  Hill 
and  the  Republican  Fork  country  and  had  finally 
yielded  to  the  attractions  of  a  cabin  ready-built 
in  Younkins's  neighborhood,  with  a  garden  patch 
attached,  and  had  decided  to  go  in  that  direction. 

"  This  is  simply  bully  !  "  said  Sandy  Howell,  as 
the  little  caravan  turned  to  the  right  and  drove  up 
the  north  bank  of  the  Republican  Fork. 


THE  SETTLERS  AT  HOME.  86 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

THE  SETTLERS  AT  HOME. 

A  WIDE,  shallow  river,  whose  turbid  waters  were 

yellow  with  the  freshets  of  early  summer,  shad- 
owed by  tall  and  sweeping  cottonwoods  and  water- 
maples  ;  shores  gently  sloping  to  the  current,  save 
where  a  tall  and  rocky  bluff  broke  the  prospect  up 
stream;  thickets  of  oaks,  adders,  sycamores,  and 
persimmons  —  this  was  the  scene  on  which  the  Illi 
nois  emigrants  arrived,  as  they  journeyed  to  their 
new  home  in  the  far  West.  On  the  north  bank  of 
the  river,  only  a  few  hundred  rods  from  the  stream, 
was  the  log-cabin  of  Younkins.  It  was  built  on 
the  edge  of  a  fine  bit  of  timber-land,  in  which 
oaks  and  hickories  were  mingled  with  less  valuable 
trees.  Near  by  the  cabin,  and  hugging  closely  up 
to  it,  was  a  thrifty  field  of  corn  and  other  garden 
stuff,  just  beginning  to  look  promising  of  good 
things  to  come ;  and  it  was  a  refreshing  sight  here 
in  the  wilderness,  for  all  around  was  the  virgin 
forest  and  the  unbroken  prairie. 

Younkins's  wife,  a  pale,  sallow,  and  anxious- 
looking  woman,  and  Younkins's  baby  boy,  chubby 
and  open-eyed,  welcomed  the  strangers  without 


86  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

much  show  of  feeling  other  than  a  natural  curi- 
osity. With  Western  hospitality,  the  little  cabin 
was  found  large  enough  to  receive  all  the  party, 
and  the  floor  was  covered  with  blankets  and  buffalo- 
skins  when  they  lay  down  to  sleep  their  first  night 
near  their  future  home  in  the  country  of  the  Re- 
publican Fork.  The  boys  were  veiy  happy  that 
their  journey  was  at  an  end.  They  had  listened 
with  delight  while  Younkins  told  stories  of  buffalo 
and  antelope  hunting,  of  Indian  "scares,"  and  of 
the  many  queer  adventures  of  settlers  on  this  dis- 
tant frontier. 

"What  is  there  west  of  this?"  asked  Charlie, 
as  the  party  were  dividing  the  floor  and  the  shal- 
low loft  among  themselves  for  the  night. 

44  Nothing  but  Indians  and  buffalo,"  said  Youn- 
kins, sententiously. 

44 No  settlers  anywhere?"  cried  Sandy,  eagerly. 

44  The  next  settlement  west  of  here,  if  you  can 
call  it  a  settlement,  is  Fort  Kearney,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Platte.  From  here  to  there,  there  isn't 
so  much  as  a  hunter's  camp,  so  far  as  I  know." 
This  was  Younkins's  last  word,  as  he  tumbled, 
half  dressed,  into  his  bunk  in  one  corner  of  the 
cabin.  Sandy  hugged  his  brother  Charlie  before 
he  dropped  off  to  sleep,  and  whispered  in  his  ear, 
"We're  on  the  frontier  at  last!  It's  just  splen- 
did I" 

Next  day,  leaving  their  cattle  and  wagon  at  the 
Younkins  homestead,  the  party,  piloted  by  theii 


THE  SETTLERS  AT  HOME.  87 

good-natured  future  neighbor,  forded  the  Fork  and 
went  over  into  the  Promised  Land.  The  river 
was  rather  high  as  yet;  for  the  snow,  melting  in 
the  far-off  Rocky  Mountains  as  the  summer  ad- 
vanced, had  swollen  all  the  tributaries  of  the 
Republican  Fork,  and  the  effects  of  the  rise  were 
to  be  seen  far  down  on  the  Kaw.  The  newcomers 
were  initiated  into  the  fashion  of  the  country  by 
Younkins,  who  directed  each  one  to  take  off  all 
clothes  but  his  shirt  and  hat.  Then  their  gar- 
ments were  rolled  up  in  bundles,  each  man  and 
boy  taking  his  own  on  his  head,  and  wading  delib- 
erately into  the  water,  the  sedate  Younkins  being 
the  leader. 

It  seemed  a  little  dangerous.  The  stream  was 
about  one  hundred  rods  wide,  and  the  current  was 
tolerably  swift,  swollen  by  the  inrush  of  smaller 
streams  above.  The  water  was  cold,  and  made  an 
ominous  swishing  and  gurgling  among  the  under- 
brush that  leaned  into  the  margin  of  the  river.  In 
Indian  file,  Mr.  Ho  well  bringing  up  the  rear,  and 
keeping  his  eyes  anxiously  upon  the  lads  before 
him,  they  all  crossed  in  safety,  Sandy,  the  shortest 
of  the  party,  being  unable  to  keep  dry  the  only 
garment  he  had  worn^  for  the  water  came  well  up 
under  his  arms. 

"Well,  that  was  funny,  anyhow,"  he  blithely 
remarked,  as  he  wrung  the  water  out  of  his  shirt, 
and,  drying  himself  as  well  as  he  could,  dressed 
and  joined  the  rest  of  the  parly  in  the  uip  toward 
their  future  home. 


6*  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

Along  the  lower  bank  of  the  Republican  Fork, 
where  the  new  settlers  now  found  themselves,  the 
tountry  is  gently  undulating.  Bordering  the  stream 
they  saw  a  dense  growth  of  sycamores,  cottonwoods, 
and  birches.  Some  of  these  trees  were  tall  and 
handsome,  and  the  general  effect  on  the  minds  of 
the  newcomers  was  delightful.  After  they  had 
emerged  from  the  woods  that  skirted  the  river, 
they  were  in  the  midst  of  a  lovely  rolling  prairie, 
the  forest  on  the  right ;  on  their  left  was  a  thick 
growth  of  wood  that  marked  the  winding  course 
of  a  creek  which,  rising  far  to  the  west,  emptied 
into  the  Republican  Fork  at  a  point  just  below 
where  the  party  had  forded  the  stream.  The  land 
rose  gradually  from  the  point  nearest  the  ford, 
breaking  into  a  low,  rocky  bluff  beyond  at  their 
right  and  nearest  the  river,  a  mile  away,  and  roll- 
ing off  to  the  southwest  in  folds  and  swales. 

Just  at  the  foot  of  the  little  bluff  ahead,  with 
a  background  of  trees,  was  a  log-cabin  of  hewn 
timber,  weather-stained  and  gray  in  the  summer 
Bun,  absolutely  alone,  and  looking  as  if  lost  in  this 
untrodden  wild.  Pointing  to  it,  Younkins  saidy 
"  That's  your  house  so  long  as  you  want  it." 

The  emigrants  tramped  through  the  tall,  lush 
grass  that  covered  every  foot  of  the  new  Kansas 
soil,  their  eyes  fixed  eagerly  on  the  log-cabin  before 
them.  The  latch-string  hung  out  hospitably  from 
the  door  of  split  "  shakes,"  and  the  party  entered 
without  ado.  Everything  was  just  as  Younkins 


THE  SETTLERS  AT  HOME.  89 

had  last  left  it.  Two  or  three  gophers,  disturbed 
in  their  foraging  about  the  premises,  fled  swiftly 
at  the  entrance  of  the  visitors,  and  a  flock  of  black- 
birds, settled  around  the  rear  of  the  house,  flew 
noisily  across  the  creek  that  wound  its  way  down 
to  the  Fork. 

The  floor  was  of  puncheons  split  from  oak  logs, 
and  laid  loosely  on  rough-hewn  joists.  These  rat- 
tled as  the  visitors  walked  over  them.  At  one  end 
of  the  cabin  a  huge  fireplace  of  stone  laid  in  clay 
yawned  for  the  future  comfort  of  the  new  ten- 
ants. Near  by,  a  rude  set  of  shelves  suggested  a 
pantry,  and  a  table,  home-made  and  squally  rude, 
stood  in  the  middle  of  the  floor.  In  one  corner 
was  built  a  bedstead,  two  sides  of  the  house  fur- 
nishing two  sides  of  the  work,  and  the  other  two 
being  made  by  driving  a  stake  into  the  floor,  and 
connecting  that  by  string-pieces  to  the  sides  of  the 
cabin.  Thongs  of  buffalo-hide  formed  the  bottom 
of  this  novel  bedstead.  A  few  stools  and  short 
benches  were  scattered  about.  Near  the  fireplace 
long  and  strong  pegs,  driven  into  the  logs,  served 
as  a  ladder,  on  which  one  could  climb  to  the  low 
loft  overhead.  Two  windows,  each  of  twelve  small 
panes  of  glass,  let  in  the  light,  one  from  the  end 
of  the  cabin,  and  one  from  the  back  opposite  the 
door,  which  was  in  the  middle  of  the  front.  Out- 
side, a  frail  shanty  of  shakes  leaned  against  the 
cabin,  affording  a  sort  of  outdoor  kitchen  for  sum* 
mer  use. 


90  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"  So  this  is  home,"  said  Charlie,  gazing  about. 
"  What  will  mother  say  to  this  —  if  she  ever  gets 
here?" 

"  Well,  we've  taken  a  heap  of  comfort  here,  my 
old  woman  and  me,"  said  Younkins,  looking  around 
quickly,  and  with  an  air  of  surprise.  "  It's  a  mighty 
comfortable  house ;  leastways  we  think  so.'* 

Charlie  apologized  for  having  seemed  to  cast  any 
discredit  on  the  establishment.  Only  he  said  that 
he  did  not  suppose  that  his  mother  knew  much 
about  log-cabins.  As  for  himself,  he  would  like 
nothing  better  than  this  for  a  home  for  a  long  time 
to  come.  "  For,"  he  added,  roguishly,  "  you  know 
we  have  come  to  make  the  West,  'as  they  the 
East,  the  homestead  of  the  free.' " 

Mr.  Younkins  looked  puzzled,  but  made  no  re- 
mark. The  younger  boys,  after  taking  in  the  situ- 
ation and  fondly  inspecting  every  detail  of  the 
premises,  enthusiastically  agreed  that  nothing  could 
be  finer  than  this.  They  darted  out  of  doors,  and 
saw  a  corral,  or  pound,  in  which  the  cattle  could 
be  penned  up,  in  case  of  need.  There  was  a  small 
patch  of  fallow  ground,  that  needed  only  to  be 
spaded  up  to  become  a  promising  garden-spot. 
Then,  swiftly  running  to  the  top  of  the  little  bluff 
beyond,  they  gazed  over  the  smiling  panorama  of 
emerald  prairie,  laced  with  woody  creeks,  level 
fields,  as  yet  undisturbed  by  the  ploughshare,  blue, 
distant  woods  and  yet  more  distant  hills,  among 
which,  to  the  northwest,  the  broad  river  wound 


THE  SETTLERS  AT  HOME.  91 

and  disappeared.  Westward,  nothing  was  to  be 
seen  but  the  green  and  rolling  swales  of  the  virgin 
prairie,  broken  here  and  there  by  an  outcropping 
of  rock.  And  as  they  looked,  a  tawny,  yellowish 
creature  trotted  out  from  behind  a  roll  of  the 
prairie,  sniffed  in  the  direction  of  the  boys,  and 
then  stealthily  disappeared  in  the  wildness  of  the 
vast  expanse. 

"  A  coyote,"  said  Sandy,  briefly.  "  I've  seen 
them  in  Illinois.  But  I  wish  I  had  my  gun  now/* 
His  wiser  brother  laughed  as  he  told  him  that  it 
would  be  a  long  day  before  a  coyote  could  be  got 
near  enough  to  be  knocked  over  with  any  shot- 
gun. The  coyote,  or  prairie-wolf,  is  the  slyest 
animal  that  walks  on  four  legs. 

The  three  men  and  Charlie  returned  to  the 
further  side  of  the  Fork,  and  made  immediate 
preparations  to  move  all  their  goods  and  effects 
to  the  new  home  of  the  emigrants.  Sandy  and 
Oscar,  being  rather  too  small  to  wade  the  stream 
without  discomfort,  while  it  was  so  high,  were  left 
on  me  south  bank  to  receive  the  returning  party. 

There  the  boys  sat,  hugely  enjoying  the  situa- 
tion, while  the  others  were  loading  the  wagon  and 
yoking  the  oxen  on  the  other  side.  The  lads 
could  hear  the  cheery  sounds  of  the  men  talking, 
although  they  could  not  see  them  through  the 
trees  that  lined  the  farther  bank  of  the  river.  The 
flow  of  the  stream  made  a  ceaseless  lapping  against 
the  brink  of  the  shore.  A  party  of  catbirds  quar- 


^2  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

-elled  sharply  in  the  thicket  hard  by ;  quail  whis- 
tled in  the  underbrush  of  the  adjacent  creek,  and 
overhead  a  solitary  eagle  circled  slowly  around  as 
if  looking  down  to  watch  these  rude  invaders  of 
the  privacy  of  the  dominion  that  had  existed  ever 
since  the  world  began. 

Hugging  his  knees  in  measureless  content,  as 
they  sat  in  the  grass  by  the  river,  Sandy  asked, 
almost  in  a  whisper,  "  Have  you  ever  been  home- 
sick since  we  left  Dixon,  Oscar  ?  " 

"  Just  once,  Sandy ;  and  that  was  yesterday 
when  I  saw  those  nice-looking  ladies  at  the  fort 
out  walking  in  the  morning  with  their  children. 
That  was  the  first  sight  that  looked  like  home 
since  we  crossed  the  Missouri." 

"Me,  too,"  answered  Sandy,  soberly.  "But 
this  is  just  about  as  fine  as  anything  can  be.  Only 
think  of  it,  Oscar !  There  are  buffalo  and  ante- 
lopes within  ten  or  fifteen  miles  of  here.  I  know, 
for  Younkins  told  me  so.  And  Indians,  —  not  wild 
Indians,  but  tame  ones  that  are  at  peace  with  the 
whites.  It  seems  too  good  to  have  happened  to 
us;  doesn't  it,  Oscar?" 

Once  more  the  wagon  was  blocked  up  for  a  dif- 
ficult ford,  the  lighter  and  more  perishable  articles 
of  its  load  being  packed  into  a  dugout,  or  canoe 
hollowed  from  a  sycamore  log,  which  was  the 
property  of  Younkins,  and  used  only  at  high  stages 
of  the  water.  The  three  men  guided  the  wagon 
and  oxen  across  while  Charlie,  stripped  to  his 


THE  SETTLERS  AT  HOME.  93 

shirt,  pushed  the  loaded  dugout  carefully  over, 
and  the  two  boys  on  the  other  bank,  full  of  the 
importance  of  the  event,  received  the  solitary  voy- 
ager, unleaded  the  canoe,  and  then  transferred  the 
little  cargo  to  the  wagon.  The  caravan  took  its 
way  up  the  rolling  ground  of  the  prairie  to  the  log- 
cabin.  Willing  hands  unloaded  and  took  into  the 
house  the  tools,  provisions,  and  clothes  that  con- 
stituted their  all,  and,  before  the  sun  went  down, 
the  settlers  were  at  home= 

While  in  Manhattan,  they  had  supplied  them- 
selves with  potatoes ;  at  Fort  Riley  they  had 
bought  fresh  beef  from  the  sutler.  Sandy  made  a 
glorious  fire  in  the  long-disused  fireplace.  His 
father  soon  had  a  batch  of  biscuits  baking  in  the 
covered  kettle,  or  Dutch  oven,  that  they  had 
brought  with  them  from  home.  Charlie's  contri- 
bution to  the  repast  was  a  pot  of  excellent  coffee, 
the  milk  for  which,  an  unaccustomed  luxury,  was 
supplied  by  the  thoughtfulness  of  Mrs.  Younkins. 
So,  with  thankful  hearts,  they  gathered  around 
their  frugal  board  and  took  their  first  meal  in  their 
new  home. 

When  supper  was  done  and  the  cabin,  now 
lighted  by  the  scanty  rays  of  two  tallow  candles, 
had  been  made  tidy  for  the  night,  Oscar  took  out 
his  violin,  and,  after  much  needed  tuning,  struck 
into  the  measure  of  wild,  warbling  "  Dundee." 
All  hands  took  the  hint,  and  all  vciees  were  raised 
once  more  to  the  words  of  Whittier's  song  of  the 


THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"  Kansas  Emigrants."     Perhaps  it  was  with  new 
spirit  and  new  tenderness  that  they  sang,  — 

"  ISTo  pause,  nor  rest,  save  where  the  streams 

That  feed  the  Kansas  run, 
Save  where  the  pilgrim  gonfalon 
Shall  flout  the  setting  sun  !  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  the  pilgrim's  gonfalon  is," 
said  Sand}r,  sleepily,  "  but  I  guess  it's  all  right." 
The  emigrants  had  crossed  the  prairies  as  of  old 
their  fathers  had  crossed  the  sea.  They  wer^  now 
at  home  in  the  New  West.  The  night  fell  dark 
and  still  about  their  lonely  cabin  as,  with  hope  and 
trust,  they  laid  them  down  to  peaceful  dreams. 


SETTING   THE  STAKES.  95 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SETTING  THE   STAKES. 

"  We  mustn't  let  any  grass  grow  under  our  feet, 
boys,"  was  Mr.  Aleck  Howell's  energetic  remark, 
next  morning,  when  the  little  party  had  finished 
their  first  breakfast  in  their  new  home. 

"  That  means  work,  I  s'pose,"  replied  Oscar, 
turning  a  longing  glance  to  his  violin  hanging  on 
the  side  of  the  cabin,  with  a  broken  string  crying 
for  repairs. 

"  Yes,  and  hard  work,  too,r>  said  his  father,  not- 
ing the  lad's  look.  "Luckily  for  us,  Brother 
Aleck,"  he  continued,  "our  boys  are  not  afraid 
of  work.  They  have  been  brought  up  to  it,  and 
although  I  am  thinking  they  don't  know  much 
about  the  sort  of  work  that  we  shall  have  to  put 
in  on  these  beautiful  prairies,  I  guess  they  will 
buckle  down  to  it.  Eh?"  and  the  loving  father 
turned  his  look  from  the  grassy  and  rolling  plain 
to  his  son's  face. 

Sandy  answered  for  him.  "  Oh,  yes,  Uncle 
Charlie,  we  all  like  work  I  Afraid  of  work  ? 
Why,  Oscar  and  I  are  so  used  to  it  that  we  would 
be  willing  to  lie  right  down  by  the  side  of  it,  and 


96  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

sleep  as  securely  as  if  it  were  as  harmless  as  a 
kitten  !  Afraid  of  work?  Never  you  fe«r  *  the 
Dixon  boys  who  fear  no  noise  '  —  what's  the  rest 
of  that  song  ?  " 

Nobody  knew,  and,  in  the  laugh  that  followed, 
Mr.  Howell  suggested  that  as  Younkins  was  com- 
ing over  the  river  to  show  them  the  stakes  of  their 
new  claims,  the  boys  might  better  set  an  extra  plate 
at  dinner-time.  It  was  very  good  of  Younkins  to 
take  so  much  trouble  on  their  account,  and  the  least 
they  could  do  was  to  show  him  proper  hospitality. 

"What  is  all  this  about  stakes  and  quarter- 
sections,  anyway,  father?"  asked  Sandy.  "I'm 
sure  I  don't  know." 

"  He  doesn't  know  what  quarter-sections  are ! " 
shouted  Charlie.  "  Oh,  my !  what  an  ignoramus ! " 

"  Well,  what  is  a  quarter-section,  as  you  are  so 
knowing?"  demanded  Sandy.  -;I  don't  believe 
you  know  yourself." 

"It  is  a  quarter  of  a  section  of  public  land," 
answered  the  lad.  "  Every  man  or  single  woman 
of  mature  age  —  I  think  that  is  what  the  books 
say  —  who  doesn't  own  several  hundred  acres  of 
land  elsewhere  (I  don't  know  just  how  many)  is 
entitled  to  enter  on  and  take  up  a  quarter  of  a 
section  of  unoccupied  public  land,  and  have  it  for 
a  homestead.  That's  all,"  and  Charlie  looked  to 
his  father  for  approval. 

'-*  Pretty  good,  Charlie,"  said  his  uncle.  "  How 
many  acres  are  there  in  a  quarter-section  of  land  ?  " 


SETTING   THE  STAKES.  97 

'•Yes,  how  many  acres  in  a  quarter  of  a  sec- 
tio,n  ? "  shouted  Sandy,  who  saw  that  his  brother 
hesitated.  "Speak  up,  my  little  man,  and  don't 
be  afraid!" 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  the  lad,  frankly. 

"  Good  for  you !  "  said  his  father.  "  Never  be 
afraid  of  saying  that  you  don't  know  when  you  do 
not  know.  The  fear  of  confessing  ignorance  is 
what  has  wrecked  many  a  young  fellow's  chances 
for  finding  out  things  he  should  know." 

"  Well,  boys,"  said  Mr.  Bryant,  addressing  him- 
self to  the  three  lads,  "  all  the  land  of  the  United 
States  Government  that  is  open  to  settlement  is 
laid  off  in  townships  six  miles  square.  These,  in 
turn,  are  laid  off  into  sections  of  six  hundred  and 
forty  acres  each.  Now,  then,  liow  much  land 
should  there  be  in  a  quarter-section  ?  " 

"One  hundred  and  sixty  acres!"  shouteu  all 
three  boys  at  once,  breathlessly. 

"  Correct.  The  Government  allows  every  man, 
or  single  woman  of  mature  age,  widow  or  unmar- 
ried, to  go  upon  a  plot  of  land,  not  more  than  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  nor  less  than  forty  acres, 
and  to  improve  it,  and  live  upon  it.  If  he  stays 
there,  or  *  maintains  a  continuous  residence,'  as  the 
lawyers  say,  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  the  Gov- 
ernment gives  him  a  title-deed  at  the  end  of  that 
time,  and  he  owns  the  land." 

"  What  ?  —  free,  gratis,  and  for  nothing  ?  "  cried 
Sandy. 


98  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"Certainly,"  said  his  uncle.  "The  homestead 
law  was  passed  by  Congress  to  encourage  the 
settlement  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  Govern- 
ment. You  see  there  is  an  abundance  of  these 
lands,  —  so  much,  in  fact,  that  they  have  not  yet 
been  all  laid  off  into  townships  and  sections  and 
quarter-sections.  If  a  large  number  of  homestead 
claims  are  taken  up,  then  other  settlers  will  be 
certain  to  come  in  and  buy  the  lands  that  the 
Government  has  to  sell ;  and  that  will  make  settle- 
ments grow  throughout  that  locality." 

"  Why  should  they  buy  when  they  can  get  land 
for  nothing  by  entering  and  taking  possession,  just 
as  we  are  going  to  do  ?  "  interrupted  Oscar. 

"Because,  my  son,  many  of  the  men  cannot 
make  oath  that  they  have  not  taken  up  Govern- 
ment land  somewhere  else ;  and  then,  again,  many 
men  are  going  into  land  speculations,  and  they 
don't  care  10  wait  five  years  to  prove  up  a  home- 
stead claim.  So  they  go  upon  the  land,  stake  out 
their  claim,  and  the  Government  sells  it  to  them 
outright  at  the  rate  of  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  an 
acre." 

"  Cash  down  ?  "  asked  Charlie. 

"  No,  they  need  not  pay  cash  down  unless  they 
choose.  The  Government  allows  them  a  year  to 
pay  up  in.  But  land  speculators  who  make  a 
business  of  this  sort  of  thing  generally  pay  up 
just  as  soon  as  they  are  allowed  to,  and  then,  if 
they  get  a  good  offer  to  sell  out,  they  sell  and 


SETTING   THE  STAKES.  99 

move  off  somewhere  else,  and  do  the  same  thing 
over  again." 

"People  have  to  pay  fees,  don't  they,  Uncle 
Charlie  ?  "  said  Sandy.  "  I  know  they  used  to  talk 
about  land-office  fees,  in  Dixon.  How  much  does 
it  cost  in  fees  to  enter  a  piece  of  Government 
land?" 

"  I  think  it  is  about  twenty-five  dollars  —  twenty- 
six,  to  be  exact,"  replied  Mr.  Bryant.  "There 
comes  Younkins,"  he  added,  looking  down  the 
trail  to  the  river  bank  below. 

The  boys  had  been  washing  and  putting  away 
the  breakfast  things  while  this  conversation  was 
going  on,  and  Sandy,  balancing  in  the  air  a  big 
tin  pan  on  his  fingers,  asked:  "How  mucL  land 
can  we  fellows  enter,  all  told?"  The  two  men 
laughed. 

"Well,  Alexander,"  said  his  father,  ceremoni- 
ously, "  We  two  *  fellows,'  that  is  to  say,  your 
Uncle  Charlie  and  myself,  can  enter  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  apiece.  Charlie  will  be  able  to 
enter  the  same  quantity  three  years  from  now, 
when  he  will  be  twenty-one ;  and  as  for  you  and 
Oscar,  if  you  each  add  to  your  present  years  as 
many  as  will  make  you  twenty-one,  you  can  tell 
when  you  will  be  able  to  enter  and  own  the  same 
amount  of  land;  provided  it  is  not  all  gone  by 
that  time.  Good  morning,  Mr.  Younkins."  Sandy's 
pan  came  down  with  a  crash  on  the  puncheon  floor. 

The   land  around  that   region   of  the   Repub- 


100  TEE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

lican  Fork  had  been  surveyed  into  sections  of 
six  hundred  and  forty  acres  each;  but  it  would 
be  necessary  to  secure  the  services  of  a  local 
surveyor  to  find  out  just  where  the  boundaries 
of  each  quarter-section  were.  The  stakes  were 
set  at  the  corner  of  each  section,  and  Younkins 
thought  that  by  pacing  off  the  distance  between 
two  corners  they  could  get  at  the  point  that 
would  mark  the  middle  of  the  section;  then,  by 
running  lines  across  from  side  to  side,  thus : 
they  could  get  at  the  quarter-sections  nearly 


enough  to  be  able  to  tell  about  where  their  boun- 
daries were. 

"But  suppose  you  should  build  a  house,  or 
plov.~h  a  field,  on  some  other  man's  quarter-sec- 
tion," suggested  Charlie, "  wouldn't  you  feel  cheap 
when  the  final  survey  showed  that  you  had  all 
along  been  improving  your  neighbor's  property  ?  " 

"  There  isn't  any  danger  of  that,"  answered 
Younkins,  "  if  you  are  smart  enough  to  keep  well 
away  from  your  boundary  line  when  you  are  put- 
ting in  your  improvements.  Some  men  are  not 
smart  enough,  though.  There  was  a  man  over  on 
Chapman's  Creek  who  wanted  to  have  his  log- 
cabin  on  a  pretty  rise  of  ground-like,  that  was  011 
the  upper  end  of  his  claim.  He  knew  that  the  line 
ran  somewhere  about  there ;  but  he  took  chances- 
like,  and  when  the  line  was  run,  a  year  after  that, 
lo,  and  behold!  his  house  and  garden-like  were 
both  clean  over  into  the  next  man's  claim." 


SETTING    THE  STAKES.  101 

"  What  did  he  do  ?  "  asked  Charlie.  "  Skip  out 
of  the  place?" 

"  Sho !  No,  indeed !  His  neighbor  was  a  white 
man-like,  and  they  just  took  down  the  cabin  and 
carried  it  across  the  boundary  line  and  set  it  up 
again  on  the  man's  own  land.  He's  livin'  there 
yet ;  but  he  lost  his  garden-like ;  couldn't  move 
that,  you  see  " ;  and  Younkins  laughed  one  of  his 
infrequent,  laughs. 

The  land  open  to  the  settlers  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Republican  Fork  was  all  before  them. 
Nothing  had  been  taken  up  within  a  distance  as 
far  as  they  could  see.  Chapman's  Creek,  just 
referred  to  by  Younkins,  was  eighteen  or  twenty 
miles  away.  From  the  point  at  which  they  stood 
and  toward  Chapman's,  the  land  was  surveyed ;  but 
to  the  westward  the  surveys  ran  only  just  across 
the  creek,  which,  curving  from  the  north  and  west, 
made  a  complete  circuit  around  the  land  and 
emptied  into  the  Fork,  just  below  the  fording- 
place.  Inside  of  that  circuit,  the  land,  undulating, 
and  lying  with  a  southern  exposure,  was  destitute 
of  trees.  It  was  rich,  fat  land,  but  there  was  not 
a  tree  on  it  except  where  it  crossed  the  creek,  the 
banks  of  which  were  heavily  wooded.  Inside  of 
that  circuit  somewhere,  the  two  men  must  stake 
out  their  claim.  There  was  nothing  but  rich,  un- 
shaded land,  with  a  meandering  woody  creek  flow- 
ing through  the  bottom  of  the  two  claims,  provided 
they  were  laid  out  side  by  side.  The  corner  stakes 


102  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

were  found,  and  the  men  prepared  to  pace  off  the 
distance  between  the  corners  so  as  to  find  the 
centre. 

"  It  is  a  pity  there  is  no  timber  anywhere,"  said 
Howell,  discontentedly.  "We  shall  have  to  go 
several  miles  for  timber  enough  to  build  our  cabins. 
We  don't  want  to  cut  down  right  away  what  little 
there  is  along  the  creek." 

"  Timber  ?  "  said  Younkins,  reflectively.  "  Tim- 
ber? Well,  if  one  of  you  would  put  up  with  a 
quarter-section  of  farming  land,  then  the  other 
can  enter  some  of  the  timber  land  up  on  the  North 
Branch." 

Now,  the  North  Branch  was  two  miles  and  a 
half  from  the  cabin  in  which  the  Dixon  party  were 
camped;  and  that  cabin  was  two  miles  from  the 
beautiful  slopes  on  which  the  intending  settlers 
were  now  looking  for  an  opportunity  to  lay  out 
their  two  claims.  The  two  men  looked  at  each 
other.  Could  they  divide  and  settle  thus  far  apart 
for  the  sake  of  getting  a  timber  lot? 

It  was  Sandy  who  solved  the  problem.  "I'll 
tell  you  what  to  do,  father ! "  he  cried,  eagerly : 
"you  take  up  the  timber  claim  on  the  North 
Branch,  and  we  boys  can  live  there ;  then  you 
and  Uncle  Charlie  can  keep  one  of  the  claims 
here.  We  can  build  two  cabins,  and  you  old  folks 
can  live  in  one,  and  we  in  another." 

The  fathers  exchanged  glances,  and  Mr.  Ho  well 
said,  "  I  don't  see  how  I  could  live  without  Sandy 
and  Charlie." 


SETTING   THE  STAKES.  103 

Younkins  brightened  up  at  Sandy's  suggestion- 
and  he  added  that  the  two  men  might  take  up  two 
farming  claims,  side  by  side,  and  let  the  boys  try 
and  hold  the  timber  claim  on  the  North  Branch. 
Thus  far,  there  was  no  rush  of  emigration  to  the 
south  side  of  the  Republican  Fork.  Most  of  the 
settlers  went  further  to  the  south ;  or  they  halted 
further  east,  and  fixed  their  stakes  along  the  line 
of  the  Big  Blue  and  other  more  accessible  regions. 

"  We'll  chance  it,  won't  we,  Aleck  ? "  said  Mr. 
Bryant. 

Mr.  Howell  looked  vaguely  off  over  the  rolling 
slope  on  which  they  were  standing,  and  said :  "  We 
will  chance  it  with  the  boys  on  the  timber  land, 
but  I  am  not  in  favor  of  taking  up  two  claims  here. 
Let  the  timber  claim  be  in  my  name  or  yours,  and 
the  boys  can  live  on  it.  But  we  can't  take  up  two 
claims  here  and  the  timber  besides  —  three  in  all  — 
with  only  two  full-grown  men  among  the  whole  of 
us.  That  stands  to  reason." 

Younkins  was  a  little  puzzled  by  the  strictness 
with  which  the  two  newcomers  were  disposed  to 
regard  their  rights  and  duties  as  actual  settlers. 
He  argued  that  settlers  were  entitled  to  all  they 
could  get  and  hold ;  and  he  was  in  favor  of  the 
party's  trying  to  hold  three  claims  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  each,  even  if  there  were  only  two 
men  legally  entitled  to  enter  homesteads.  Wouldn't 
Charlie  be  of  age  before  the  time  came  to  take  out 
a  patent  for  the  land  ? 


104  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"  But  he  is  not  of  age  to  enter  upon  and  hold 
the  land  now,"  said  his  father,  stiffly. 

So  it  was  settled  that  the  two  men  should  enter 
upon  the  quarter-section  of  farming  land,  and  build 
a  cabin  as  soon  as  convenient,  and  that  the  claim 
on  the  North  Fork,  which  had  a  fine  grove  of  tim- 
ber on  it,  should  be  set  apart  for  the  boys,  and  a 
cabin  built  there,  too.  The  cabin  in  the  timber 
need  not  be  built  until  late  in  the  autumn ;  that 
claim  could  be  taken  up  by  Mr.  Howell,  or  by  Mr. 
Bryant ;  by  and  by  they  would  draw  lots  to  decide 
which.  Before  sundown  that  night,  they  had 
staked  out  the  corners  of  the  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acre  lot  of  farming  land,  on  which  the  party 
had  arrived  in  the  morning. 

It  was  dark  before  they  returned  from  looking 
over  the  timber  land  in  the  bend  of  the  North  Fork 
of  the  Republican. 


DRAWING  THE  FIRST  FURROW.  105 


CHAPTER  X. 

DRAWING  THE  FIRST  FURROW. 

THE  good-natured  Younkins  was  on  hand  bright 
and  early  the  next  morning,  to  show  the  new 
settlers  where  to  cut  the  first  furrow  on  the  land 
which  they  had  determined  to  plough.  Having 
decided  to  take  the  northwest  corner  of  the  quarter 
section  selected,  it  was  easy  to  find  the  stake  set 
at  the  corner.  Then,  having  drawn  an  imaginary 
line  from  the  stake  to  that  which  was  set  in  the 
southwest  corner,  the  tall  Charlie  standing  where 
he  could  be  used  as  a  sign  for  said  landmark,  his 
father  and  his  uncle,  assisted  by  Younkins,  and 
followed  by  the  two  other  boys,  set  the  big  break- 
ing-plough as  near  that  line  as  possible.  The  four 
yoke  of  oxen  stood  obediently  in  line.  Mr.  Howell 
firmly  held  the  plough-handles;  Younkins  drove 
the  two  forward  yoke  of  cattle,  and  Mr.  Bryant  the 
second  two ;  and  the  two  younger  boys  stood  ready 
to  hurrah  as  soon  as  the  word  was  given  to  start. 
It  was  an  impressive  moment  to  the  youngsters. 

"  Gee  up !  "  shouted  Younkins,  as  mildly  as  if 
the  oxen  were  petted  children.  The  long  train 
moved ;  the  sharp  nose  of  the  plough  cut  into  the 


106  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

virgin  turf,  turning  over  a  broad  sod,  about  five 
inches  thick ;  and  then  the  plough  swept  onward 
toward  the  point  where  Charlie  stood  waving  his 
red  handkerchief  in  the  air.  Sandy  seized  a  huge 
piece  of  the  freshly-turned  sod,  and  swinging  it  over 
his  head  with  his  strong  young  arms,  he  cried, 
"  Three  cheers  for  the  first  sou  of  Bleeding  Kansas ! 
'Rah  !  'Rah !  'Rah ! "  The  farming  of  the  boy 
settlers  had  begun. 

Charlie,  at  his  distant  post  on  the  other  side  of 
the  creek,  saw  the  beginning  of  things,  and  sent 
back  an  answering  cheer  to  the  two  boys  who  were 
dancing  around  the  massive  and  slow-moving  team 
of  cattle.  The  men  smiled  at  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  youngsters,  but  in  their  hearts  the  two  new 
settlers  felt  that  this  was,  after  all,  an  event  of 
much  significance.  The  green  turf  now  being 
turned  over  was  disturbed  by  ploughshare  for  the 
first  time  since  the  creation  of  the  world.  Scarcely 
ever  had  this  soil  felt  the  pressure  of  the  foot  of  a 
white  man.  For  ages  unnumbered  it  had  beea 
the  feeding-ground  of  the  buffalo  and  the  deer. 
The  American  savage  had  chased  his  game  over 
it,  and  possibly  the  sod  had  been  wet  with  the 
blood  of  contending  tribes.  Now  all  was  to  be 
changed.  As  the  black,  loamy  soil  was  turned  for 
the  first  time  to  the  light  of  day,  so  for  the  first 
time  the  long-neglected  plain  was  being  made 
useful  for  the  support  of  civilized  man. 

No  wonder  the  boys  cheered  and  cheered  again. 


DRAWING   THE  FIRST  FURROW.  107 

"  We  go  to  plant  her  common  schools, 

On  distant  prairie  swells, 
And  give  the  Sabbaths  of  the  wild 
The  music  of  her  bells." 

This  is  what  was  in  Mr.  Charles  Bryant's  mind 
as  he  wielded  the  ox-goad  over  the  backs  of  the 
animals  that  drew  the  great  plough  along  the  first 
furrow  cut  on  the  farm  of  the  emigrants.  The 
day  was  bright  and  fair;  the  sun  shone  down  on 
the  flower-gemmed  sod;  no  sound  broke  on  the 
still  air  but  the  slow  treading  of  the  oxen,  the 
chirrup  of  the  drivers,  the  ripping  of  the  sod  as  it 
was  turned  in  the  furrow,  and  the  gay  shouts  of 
the  light-hearted  boys. 

In  a  line  of  marvellous  straightness,  Younkins 
guided  the  leading  yoke  of  cattle  directly  toward 
the  creek  on  the  other  side  of  which  Charlie  yet 
stood,  a  tall,  but  animated  landmark.  When,  after 
descending  the  gradual  slope  on  which  the  land 
lay,  the  trees  that  bordered  the  stream  hid  the  lad 
from  view,  it  was  decided  that  the  furrow  was 
long  enough  to  mark  the  westerly  boundary  line 
of  the  forty  acres  which  it  was  intended  to  break 
up  for  the  first  corn-field  on  the  farm.  Then  the 
oxen  were  turned,  with  some  difficulty,  at  right 
angles  with  the  line  just  drawn,  and  were  driven 
easterly  until  the  southern  boundary  of  the  patch 
was  marked  out.  Turning,  now,  at  right  angles, 
and  tracing  another  line  at  the  north,  then  again 
to  the  west  to  the  point  of  original  departure,  they 


f08  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

had  accurately  defined  the  outer  boundaries  of  the 
field  on  which  so  much  in  the  future  depended; 
for  here  was  to  be  planted  the  first  crop  of  the 
newcomers. 

Younkins,  having  started  the  settlers  in  their 
first  farming,  returned  across  the  river  to  his  own 
plough,  first  having  sat  down  with  the  Dixon 
party  to  a  substantial  dinner.  For  the  boys,  after 
the  first  few  furrows  were  satisfactorily  turned, 
had  gone  back  to  the  cabin  and  made  ready  the 
noon  meal.  The  ploughmen,  when  they  came  to 
the  cabin  in  answer  to  Sandy's  whoop  from  the 
roof,  had  made  a  considerable  beginning  in  the 
field.  They  had  gone  around  within  the  outer 
edge  of  the  plantation  that  was  to  be,  leaving  with 
each  circuit  a  broader  band  of  black  and  shining 
loam  over  which  a  flock  of  birds  hopped  and  swept 
with  eager  movements,  snapping  up  the  insects 
and  worms  which,  astonished  at  the  great  upheaval, 
wriggled  in  the  overturned  turf. 

"Looks  sorter  homelike  here,"  said  Younkins, 
with  a  pleased  smile,  as  he  drew  his  bench  to  the 
well-spread  board  and  glanced  around  at  the  walls 
of  the  cabin,  where  the  boys  had  already  hung 
their  fishing-tackle,  guns,  Oscar's  violin,  and  a 
few  odds  and  ends  that  gave  a  picturesque  look  to 
the  long-deserted  cabin. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Bryant,  as  he  filled  Younkins's 
tin  cup  with  hot  coffee,  "our  boys  have  all  got  the 
knack  of  making  themselves  at  home, — runs  in 


DRAWING  THE  FIRST  FURROW.  109 

the  blood,  I  guess,  —  and  if  you  come  over  here 
again  in  a  day  or  two,  you  will  probably  find  us 
with  rugs  on  the  floor  and  pictures  on  the  walls. 
Sandy  is  a  master-hand  at  hunting;  and  he  intends 
to  get  a  dozen  buffalo-skins  out  of  hand,  so  to 
speak,  right  away."  And  he  looked  fondly  at  his 
freckled  nephew  as  he  spoke. 

"  A  dibble  and  a  corn-dropper  will  be  more  in 
his  way  than  the  rifle,  for  some  weeks  to  come," 
said  Mr.  Howell. 

"  What's  a  dibble?"  asked  both  of  the  youngsters 
at  once. 

The  elder  man  smiled  and  looked  at  Younkins 
as  he  said,  "  A  dibble,  my  lambs,  is  an  instrument 
for  the  planting  of  corn.  With  it  in  one  hand  you 
punch  a  hole  in  the  sod  that  has  been  turned  over, 
and  then,  with  the  other  hand,  you  drop  in  three 
or  four  grains  of  corn  from  the  corn-dropper,  cover 
it  with  your  heel,  and  there  you  are,  —  planted." 

"  Why,  I  supposed  we  were  going  to  plant  corn 
wilh  a  hoe ;  and  we've  got  the  hoes,  too ! "  cried 
Oscar. 

"  No,  my  son,"  said  his  father ;  "  if  we  were  to 
plant  corn  with  a  hoe,  we  shouldn't  get  through 
planting  before  next  fall,  I  am  afraid.  After  din- 
ner, we  will  make  some  dibbles  for  you  boys,  for 
you  must  begin  to  drop  corn  to-morrow.  What 
ploughing  we  have  done  to-day,  you  can  easily  catch 
up  with  when  you  begin.  And  the  three  of  you 
can  all  be  on  the  furrow  at  once,  if  that  seems 
worth  while." 


110  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

The  boys  very  soon  understood  fully  what  a  dib- 
oie  was,  and  what  a  corn-dropper  was,  strange 
though  those  implements  were  to  them  at  first. 
Before  the  end  of  planting-time,  they  fervently 
wished  they  had  never  seen  either  of  these  instru- 
ments of  the  corn-planter. 

With  the  aid  of  a  few  rude  tools,  there  was  fash- 
ioned a  staff  from  the  tough  hickory  that  grew 
near  at  hand,  the  lower  part  of  the  stick  being 
thick  and  pointed  at  the  end.  The  staff  was  about 
as  high  as  would  come  up  to  a  boy's  shoulder,  so 
that  as  he  grasped  it  near  the  upper  end,  his  arm 
being  bent,  the  lower  end  was  on  the  ground. 

The  upper  end  was  whittled  so  as  to  make  a 
convenient  handle  for  the  user.  The  lower  end 
was  shaped  carefully  into  something  like  the  con- 
vex sides  of  two  spoons  put  together  by  their  bowls, 
and  the  lower  edge  of  this  part  was  shaved  down  to 
a  sharpness  that  was  increased  by  slightly  harden- 
ing it  in  the  fire.  Just  above  the  thickest  part  of 
the  dibble,  a  hole  was  bored  at  right  angles  through 
the  wood,  and  into  this  a  peg  was  driven  so  that 
several  inches  stuck  out  on  both  sides  of  the  instru- 
ment. This  completed  the  dibble. 

"So  that  is  a  dibble,  is  it?"  said  Oscar,  when 
the  first  one  was  shown  him.  "  A  dibble.  Now 
let's  see  how  you  use  it." 

Thereupon  his  Uncle  Aleck  stood  up,  grasped  the 
staff  by  the  upper  end,  pressed  his  foot  on  the  peg 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  tool,  and  so  forced  tne 


DRAWING  THE  FIRST  FURROW.  Ill 

sharp  point  of  the  dibble  downward  into  the  earth. 
Then,  drawing  it  out,  a  convex  slit  was  shown  in 
the  elastic  turf.  Shaking  an  imaginary  grain  of 
corn  into  the  hole,  he  closed  it  with  a  stamp  of  his 
heel,  stepped  on  and  repeated  the  motion  a  few 
times,  and  then  said,  "  That's  how  they  plant  corn 
on  the  sod  in  Kansas." 

"Uncle  Aleck,  what  a  lot  you  know!"  said 
Oscar,  with  undisguised  admiration. 

Meanwhile,  Mr.  Bryant,  taking  a  pair  of  old 
boots,  cut  off  the  legs  just  above  the  ankles,  and, 
fastening  in  the  lower  end  of  each  a  round  bit  of 
wood,  by  means  of  small  nails,  quickly  made  a  pair 
of  corn-droppers.  Sandy's  belt,  being  passed  through 
the  loop-strap  of  one  of  these,  was  fastened  around 
his  waist.  The  dropper  was  to  be  filled  with  corn, 
and,  thus  accoutred,  he  was  ready  for  doing  duty  in 
the  newly  ploughed  field.  When  the  lad  expressed 
his  impatience  foj.  another  day  to  come  so  that  he 
could  begin  corn-planting,  the  two  elders  of  the 
family  laughed  outright. 

"  Sandy,  boy,  you  will  be  glad  when  to-morrow 
night  comes,  so  that  you  can  rest  from  your  labors. 
You  remember  what  I  tell  you ! "  said  his  father. 

Nevertheless,  when  the  two  boys  stepped  bravely 
out,  next  morning,  in.  the  wake  of  the  breaking- 
team,  they  were  not  la  the  least  dismayed  by  the 
prospect  of  working  all  day  in  the  heavy  furrows 
of  the  plough.  Bryant  drove  the  leading  yoke  of 
oxen,  Charlie  tried  his  'prentice  hand  with  the 
second  yoke,  and  Howell  held  the  plough. 


112  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

" '  He  that  by  the  plough  would  thrive, 
Must  either  hold  the  plough  or  drive,'  ** 

commented  Oscar,  filling  his  corn-dropper  and 
eyeing  his  father's  rather  awkward  handling  of 
the  ox-goad.  Uncle  Aleck  had  usually  driven  the 
cattle,  but  his  hand  was  now  required  in  the  more 
difficult  business  of  holding  the  plough. 

" '  Plough  deep  while  sluggards  sleep,' "  replied 
his  father ;  "  and  if  you  don't  manage  better  with 
dropping  corn  than  I  do  with  driving  these  oxen, 
we  shall  have  a  short  crop." 

"  How  many  grains  of  corn  to  a  hole,  Uncle 
Aleck?  and  how  many  bushels  to  the  acre?" 
asked  Oscar. 

"  Not  more  than  five  grains  nor  less  than  three 
is  the  rule,  my  boy.  Now  then,  step  out  lively." 

And  the  big  team  swept  down  the  slope,  leaving 
a  broad  and  shining  furrow  behind  it.  The  two 
boys  followed,  one  about  twenty  feet  behind  the 
other,  and  when  the  hindermost  had  come  up  to 
the  work  of  him  who  was  ahead,  he  skipped  the 
planted  part  and  went  on  ahead  of  his  comrade 
twenty  feet,  thus  alternating  each  with  the  other. 
They  were  cheerily  at  work  when,  apparently 
from  under  the  feet  of  the  forward  yoke  of  oxen, 
a  bird  somewhat  bigger  than  a  robin  flew  up  with 
shrieks  of  alarm  and  went  iiuctering  off  along  the 
ground,  tumbling  in  the  grass  as  if  desperately 
wounded  and  unable  to  fly.  Sandy  made  a  rush 
for  the  bird,  which  barely  eluded  his  clutches  once 


DE AWING   THE  FIRST  FURROW.  113 

or  twice,  and  drew  him  on  and  on  in  a  fruitless 
chase;  for  the  timid  creature  soon  recovered  the 
use  of  its  wings,  and  soaring  aloft,  disappeared  in 
the  depths  of  the  sky. 

"  That's  the  deceivingest  bird  I  ever  saw,"  panted 
Sandy,  out  of  breath  with  running,  and  looking 
shamefacedly  at  the  corn  that  he  had  spilled  in 
his  haste  to  catch  his  prey.  "  Why,  it  acted  just 
as  if  its  right  wing  was  broken,  and  then  it  flew  off 
as  sounu  as  a  nut,  for  all  I  could  see." 

When  the  ploughmen  met  them,  on  the  next  turn 
of  the  team,  Uncle  Aleck  oo,ld,  "  Did  you  catch  the 
lapwing,  you  silly  boy?  That  fellow  fooled  you 
nicely." 

" Lapwing ?"  said  Sandy,  puzzled.  "What's  a 
lapwing  ?  "  But  the  ploughmen  were  already  out 
of  earshot. 

"  Oh,  I  know  now,"  said  Oscar.  "  I've  read  of 
the  lapwing ;  it  is  a  bird  so  devoted  to  its  young, 
or  its  nest,  that  when  it  fancies  either  in  danger, 
it  assumes  all  the  distress  of  a  wounded  thing,  and, 
fluttering  along  the  ground,  draws  the  sportsman 
away  from  the  locality." 

"Right  out  of  a  book,  Oscar!"  cried  Sandy. 
"  And  here's  its  nest,  as  sure  as  I'm  alive  ! "  So 
saying,  the  lad  stooped,  and,  parting  the  grass  with 
his  hands,  disclosed  a  pretty  nest  sunk  in  the 
ground,  holding  five  finely  speckled  eggs.  The 
bird,  so  lately  playing  the  cripple,  cried  and 
circled  around  the  heads  of  the  boys  as  they  peered 
into  the  home  of  the  lapwing. 


114  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

"  Well,  here's  an  actual  settler  that  we  must  dis- 
turb, Sandy,"  said  Oscar;  "for  the  plough  will 
smash  right  through  this  nest  on  the  very  next  turn. 
Suppose  we  take  it  up  and  put  it  somewhere  else, 
out  of  harm's  way  ?  " 

"I'm  willing,"  assented  Sandy;  and  the  two 
boys,  carefully  extracting  the  nest  from  its  place, 
carried  it  well  over  into  the  ploughed  ground, 
where  under  the  lee  of  a  thick  turf  it  was  left  in 
safety.  But,  as  might  have  been  expected,  the 
parent  lapwing  never  went  near  that  nest  again. 
The  fright  had  been  too  great. 

"  What  in  the  world  are  you  two  boys  up  to 
now?"  shouted  Uncle  Aleck  from  the  other  side 
of  the  ploughing.  "Do  you  call  that  dropping 
corn?  Hurry  and  catch  up  with  the  team;  you 
are  'way  behind." 

"  Great  Scott !  "  cried  Sandy ;  "  I  had  clean  for- 
gotten the  corn-dropping.  A  nice  pair  of  farmers 
we  are,  Oscar!"  and  the  lad,  with  might  and 
main,  began  to  close  rapidly  the  long  gap  between 
him  and  the  steadily  moving  ox-team. 

"Leg-weary  work,  isn't  it,  Sandy?"  said  hie 
father,  when  they  stopped  at  noon  to  take  the 
luncheon  they  had  brought  out  into  the  field  with 
them. 

"Yes,  and  I'm  terribly  hungry,"  returned  the 
boy,  biting  into  a  huge  piece  of  cold  corn-bread. 
"I  shouldn't  eat  this  if  I  were  at  home,  and  I 
shouldn't  eat  it  now  if  I  weren't  as  hungry  as  a 


f  DRAWING   THE  FIRST  FURROW.  115 

bear.  Say,  daddy,  you  cannot  think  how  tired  my 
leg  is  with  the  punching  of  that  dibble  into  the 
sod ;  seems  as  if  I  couldn't  hold  out  till  sundown ; 
but  I  suppose  I  shall.  First,  I  punch  a  hole  by 
jamming  down  the  dibble  with  my  foot,  and  then 
I  kick  the  hole  again  with  the  same  foot,  after  I 
have  dropped  in  the  grains  of  corn.  These  two 
motions  are  dreadfully  tiresome." 

"  Yes,"  said  his  uncle,  with  a  short  laugh,  "  and 
while  I  was  watching  you  and  Oscar,  this  fore- 
noon, I  couldn't  help  thinking  that  you  did  not 
yet  know  how  to  make  your  muscles  bear  an  equal 
strain.  Suppose  you  try  changing  legs  ?  " 

"  Changing  legs  ?  "  exclaimed  both  boys  at  once. 
"  Why,  how  could  we  exchange  legs  ?  " 

"  I  know  what  Uncle  Aleck  means.  I  saw  you 
always  used  the  right  leg  to  jam  down  the  dibble 
with,  and  then  you  kicked  the  hole  full  with  the 
right  heel.  No  wonder  your  right  legs  are  tired. 
Change  hands  and  legs,  once  in  a  while,  and  use 
the  dibble  on  the  left  side  of  you,"  said  Charlie, 
whose  driving  had  tired  him  quite  as  thoroughly. 

"Isn't  Charlie  too  awfully  knowing  for  any- 
thing, Oscar?"  said  Sandy,  with  some  sarcasm. 
Nevertheless,  the  lad  got  up,  tried  the  dibble  with 
his  left  hand,  and  saying,  "  Thanks,  Charlie," 
dropped  down  upon  the  fragrant  sod  and  was 
speedily  asleep,  for  a  generous  nooning  was 
allowed  the  industrious  lads. 


116  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  XL 

AS  INDIAN  TRAIL. 

THE  next  day  was  Sunday,  and,  true  to  their 
New  England  training,  the  settlers  refrained  from 
labor  on  the  day  of  rest.  Mr.  Bryant  took  his 
pocket  Bible  and  wandered  off  into  the  wild  waste 
of  lands  somewhere.  The  others  lounged  about 
the  cabin,  indoors  and  out,  a  trifle  sore  and  stiff 
from  the  effects  of  work  so  much  harder  than  that 
to  which  they  had  been  accustomed,  and  glad  of 
an  opportunity  to  rest  their  limbs.  The  younger 
of  the  boy  settlers  complained  that  they  had  worn 
their  legs  out  with  punching  holes  in  the  sod  while 
planting  corn.  The  soles  of  their  feet  were  sore 
with  the  pressure  needed  to  jam  the  dibble  through 
the  tough  turf.  In  the  afternoon,  they  all  wan- 
dered off  through  the  sweet  and  silent  wilderness 
of  rolling  prairie  into  the  woods  in  which  they 
proposed  to  lay  off  another  claim  for  pre-emption. 
At  a  short  distance  above  their  present  home,  cut- 
ting sharply  through  the  sod,  and  crossing  the 
Republican  Fork  a  mile  or  so  above  their  own  ford, 
was  an  old  Indian  trail,  which  the  boys  had  before 
noticed  but  could  not  understand.  As  Charlie 


AN  INDIAN  TRAIL.  117 

and  Oscar,  pressing  on  ahead  of  their  elders,  came 
upon  the  old  trail,  they  loitered  about  until  the 
rest  of  the  party  came  up,  and  then  they  asked 
what  could  have  cut  that  narrow  track  in  the  turf, 
so  deep  and  so  narrow. 

"That's  an  Injun  trail,"  said  Younkins,  who, 
with  an  uncomfortably  new  suit  of  Sunday  clothes 
and  a  smooth-shaven  face,  had  come  over  to  visit 
his  new  neighbors.  "  Didn't  you  ever  see  an  Injun 
trail  before  ? "  he  asked,  noting  the  look  of  eager 
curiosity  on  the  faces  of  the  boys.  They  assured 
him  that  they  never  had,  and  he  continued :  "  This 
yere  trail  has  been  here  for  years  and  years,  long 
and  long  before  any  white  folks  came  into  the 
country.  Up  north  and  east  of  yer,  on  the  head- 
waters of  the  Big  Blue,  the  Cheyennes  used  to 
live,"  —  Younkins  pronounced  it  Shyans,  —  "  and 
as  soon  as  the  grass  began  to  start  in  the  spring, 
so  as  to  give  feed  to  their  ponies  and  to  the  buffalo, 
they  would  come  down  this  yere  way  for  game. 
They  crossed  the  Fork  just  above  yere-like,  and 
then  they  struck  down  to  the  head-waters  of  the 
Smoky  Hill  and  so  off  to  the  westwards.  Big 
game  was  plenty  in  those  days,  and  now  the  In- 
juns off  to  the  north  of  yere  come  down  in  just  the 
same  way  —  hunting  for  game." 

The  boys  got  down  on  their  knees  and  scanned 
the  trail  with  new  interest.  It  was  not  more  than 
nine  or  ten  inches  across,  and  was  so  worn  down 
that  it  made  a  narrow  trench,  as  it  were,  in  the 


118  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

deep  sod,  its  lower  surface  being  as  smooth  as  u 
rolled  wagon-track.  Over  this  well-worn  track, 
for  ages  past,  the  hurrying  feet  of  wild  tribes  had 
passed  so  many  times  that  even  the  wiry  grass- 
roots had  been  killed  down. 

"  Did  war  parties  ever  go  out  on  this  trail,  do 
you  suppose?"  asked  Sandy,  sitting  up  in  the 
grass. 

"  Sakes  alive,  yes ! "  replied  Younkins.  "  Why, 
the  Cheyennes  and  the  Comanches  used  to  roam 
over  all  these  plains,  in  the  old  times,  and  they 
were  mostly  at  war." 

"  Where  are  the  Cheyennes  and  the  Comanches 
now,  Mr.  Younkins?"  asked  Uncle  Aleck. 

"I  reckon  the  Comanches  are  off  to  the  south- 
like  somewhere.  It  appears  to  me  that  I  heard 
they  were  down  off  the  Texas  tcrder,  somewheres ; 
the  Cheyennes  are  to  the  westwards,  somewhere 
near  Fort  Laramie." 

"  And  what  Indians  are  there  who  use  this  trail 
now  ?  "  inquired  Oscar,  whose  eyes  were  sparkling 
with  excitement  as  he  studied  the  well-worn  path 
of  the  Indian  tribes. 

Younkins  explained  that  the  Pottawottomies 
and  the  Pawnees,  now  located  to  the  north,  were 
the  only  ones  who  used  the  trail.  "  Blanket  In- 
dians," he  said  they  were,  peaceable  creatures 
enough,  but  not  good  neighbors ;  he  did  not  want 
any  Indians  of  any  sort  near  him.  When  one  of  the 
boys  asked  what  blanket  Indians  were,  Younkins 
explained,  — , 


AN  INDIAN   TRAIL.  119 

"There's  three  kinds  of  Injuns,  none  on  'em 
good,  —  town  Injuns,  blanket  Injuns,  and  wild 
Injuns.  You  saw  some  of  the  town  Injuns  when 
you  came  up  through  the  Delaware  reserve  —  great 
lazy  fellows,  lyin'  round  the  house  all  day  and  let- 
tin'  the  squaws  do  all  the  work.  Then  there's 
the  blankets;  they  live  out  in  the  woods  and  on 
the  prairie,  in  teepees,  or  lodges,  of  skins  and 
canvas-like,  moving  round  from  place  to  place, 
hunting  over  the  plains  in  summer,  and  living  off'n 
the  Gov'ment  in  winter.  They  are  mostly  at 
peace  with  the  whites,  but  they  will  steal  when- 
ever they  get  a  chance.  The  other  kind,  and  the 
worst,  is  the  wild  ones.  They  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  Government,  and  they  make  war  on  the 
whites  whenever  they  feel  like  it.  Just  now,  I 
don't  know  of  any  wild  Injuns  that  are  at  war 
with  Uncle  Sam ;  but  the  Arapahoes,  Comanches, 
and  Cheyennes  are  all  likely  to  break  loose  any 
time.  I  give  'm  all  a  plenty  of  elbow  room." 

As  the  boys  reluctantly  ceased  contemplating 
the  fascinating  Indian  trail,  and  moved  on  behind 
the  rest  of  the  party,  Charlie  said :  "  I  suppose  we 
must  make  allowance  for  Younkins's  prejudices. 
He  is  like  most  of  the  border  men,  who  believe 
that  all  the  good  Indians  are  dead.  If  the  Chey- 
ennes and  the  Comancbes  could  only  tell  their 
story  in  the  books  and  newspapers,  we  might  hear 
the  other  side." 

The  idea  of  a  wild  Indian's  writing  a  book  or  a 


120  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

letter  to  the  newspapers  tickled  Sandy  so  much 
that  he  laughed  loud  and  long. 

Some  two  miles  above  the  point  where  the  set- 
tlers' ford  crossed  the  Republican  Fork,  the  stream 
swept  around  a  bluffy  promontory,  and  on  a  curve 
just  above  this  was  the  tract  of  timber  land  which 
they  now  proposed  to  enter  upon  for  their  second 
claim.  The  trees  were  oak,  hickory,  and  beech, 
with  a  slight  undergrowth  of  young  cottonwoods 
and  hazel.  The  land  lay  prettily,  the  stream  at 
this  point  flowing  in  a  southerly  direction,  with 
the  timber  claim  on  its  northwesterly  bank.  The 
sunny  exposure  of  the  grove,  the  open  glades  that 
diversified  its  dense  growth,  and  the  babbling  brook 
that  wound  its  way  through  it  to  the  river,  all  com- 
bined to  make  it  very  desirable  for  a  timber  claim. 
At  a  short  distance  from  the  river  the  land  rose 
gradually  to  a  high  ridge,  and  on  the  top  of  this 
grew  a  thick  wood  of  spruce  and  fir. 

"  That's  what  you  want  for  your  next  cabin," 
said  Younkins,  pointing  his  finger  in  the  direction 
of  the  pines.  "Best  kind  of  stuff  for  building 
there  is  in  these  parts."  Then  he  explained  to  the 
boys  the  process  of  cutting  down  the  trees,  split- 
ting them  up  into  shakes,  or  into  lengths  suitable 
for  cabin-building,  and  he  gave  them  an  entertain- 
ing account  of  all  the  ways  and  means  of  finishing 
up  a  log-cabin,  —  a  process,  by  the  way,  which  they 
found  then  more  entertaining  in  description  than 
they  afterward  found  it  in  the  reality. 


AN  INDIAN   TRAIL.  121 

That  night  when  Sandy  lay  down  to  refreshing 
sleep  it  was  to  dream  of  picturesque  Indian  figLts, 
witnessed  at  a  safe  distance  from  afar.  Accord- 
ingly, he  was  not  very  much  surprised  next  morn- 
ing, while  he  was  helping  Charlie  to  get  ready  the 
breakfast,  when  Oscar  ran  in  breathless,  with  the 
one  word,  "  Indians !  " 

"  Come  out  on  the  hill  back  of  the  cabin,"  panted 
Oscar.  "  There's  a  lot  of  'em  coming  out  on  the 
trail  we  saw  yesterday,  all  in  Indian  file.  Hurry 
up ! "  and  away  he  darted,  Sandy  hastening  with 
him  to  see  the  wonderful  sight. 

Sure  enough,  there  they  were,  twenty-five  or 
thirty  Indians, — blanket  Indians,  as  Younkins 
would  have  said,  —  strung  along  in  the  narrow 
trail,  all  in  Indian  file.  It  amazed  the  lads  to  see 
how  the  little  Indian  ponies  managed  to  keep  their  • 
feet  in  the  narrow  path.  But  they  seemed  to  trot 
leisurely  along  with  one  foot  before  the  other,  ju«* 
as  the  Indians  did.  Behind  the  mounted  men 
were  men  and  boys  on  foot,  nearly  as  many  as  had 
passed  on  horseback.  These  kept  up  with  the 
others,  silently  but  swiftly  maintaining  the  same 
pace  that  the  mounted  fellows  did.  It  was  a  pic- 
turesque and  novd  sight  to  the  young  settlers. 
The  Indians  were  dressed  in  the  true  frontier 
style,  with  hunting-shirt  and  leggings  of  dressed 
deerskin,  a  blanket  slung  loosely  over  the  shoul- 
der, all  bareheaded,  and  with  coarse  black  hair 
flowing  in  the  morning  breeze,  except  for  the  loose 


122  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

knot  in  which  it  was  twisted  behind.  Some  of 
them  carried  their  guns  slung  on  their  backs ;  and 
others  of  them  had  the  weapons  in  their  hands, 
ready  for  firing  on  the  instant. 

"  There  they  go,  over  the  divide,"  said  Oscar,  as 
the  little  cavalcade  reached  the  last  roll  of  the 
prairie,  and  began  to  disappear  on  the  other  side. 
Not  one  of  the  party  deigned  even  to  look  in  the 
direction  of  the  wondering  boys ;  and  if  they  saw 
them,  as  they  probably  did,  they  made  no  sign. 

"There  they  go,  hunting  buffalo,  I  suppose," 
said  Sandy,  with  a  sigh,  as  the  last  Indian  of  the 
file  disappeared  down  the  horizon.  "  Dear  me ! 
don't  I  wish  I  was  going  out  after  buffalo,  instead 
of  having  to  dibble  corn  into  the  sod  all  day  I 
Waugh !  Don't  I  hate  it ! "  And  the  boy  turned 
disconsolately  back  to  the  cabin.  But  he  rallied 
with  his  natural  good-humor  when  he  had  his  tale 
to  tell  at  the  breakfast-table.  He  eagerly  told 
how  they  had  seen  the  Indians  passing  over  the 
old  trail,  and  had  gazed  on  the  redskins  as  they 
went  '*  on  the  warpath." 

"Warpath,  indeed!"  laughed  Charlie.  "Pot- 
hunters, that's  what  they  are.  All  the  warfare 
they  are  up  to  is  waged  or  the  poor  innocent 
buffalo  that  Younkins  says  they  are  killing  off  and 
making  scarcer  eveiy  year." 

"If  nobody  but  Indians  killed  buffalo,"  said 
Mr.  Bryant,  "there  would  be  no  danger  of  their 
ever  being  all  killed  off.  But,  in  course  of  time, 


AN  INDIAN   TRAIL.  123 

I  suppose  this  country  will  all  be  settled  up,  and 
then  there  will  be  railroads,  and  after  that  the 
buffalo  will  have  to  go.  Just  now,  any  white  man 
that  can't  saddle  his  horse  and  go  out  and  kill  a 
buffalo  before  breakfast  thinks  they  are  getting 
scarce.  But  I  have  heard  some  of  the  soldiers  say 
that  away  up  north  of  here,  a  little  later  in  the 
season,  the  settlers  cannot  keep  their  crops,  the 
buffalo  roam  all  over  everything  so." 

"  For  my  part,"  put  in  Charlie,  "  I  am  not  in 
the  least  afraid  that  the  buffalo  will  be  so  plenty 
around  these  parts  that  they  will  hurt  our  crops ; 
and  I'd  just  like  to  see  a  herd  come  within  shoot- 
ing distance."  And  here  he  raised  his  arms,  and 
took  aim  along  an  imaginary  rifle. 

Later  in  the  forenoon,  when  the  two  younger 
boys  had  reached  the  end  of  the  two  rows  in  which 
they  had  been  planting,  Sandy  straightened  him- 
self up  with  an  effort,  and  said,  "  This  is  leg-weary 
work,  isn't  it,  Oscar?  I  hate  work,  anyhow,"  he 
added,  discontentedly,  leaning  on  the  top  of  his 
dibble,  and  looking  off  over  the  wide  and  green 
prairie  that  stretched  toward  the  setting  sun.  "  I 
wish  I  was  an  Indian." 

Oscar  burst  into  a  laugh,  and  said,  "  Wish  you 
were  an  Indian  !  —  so  you  could  go  hunting  when 
you  like,  and  not  have  any  work  to  do  ?  Why, 
Sandy,  I  didn't  think  that  of  you." 

Sandy  colored  faintly,  and  said,  "Well,  I  do 
hate  work,  honestly ;  and  it  is  only  because  I 


124  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

know  that  I  ought,  and  that  father  expects  me  to 
do  my  share,  that  I  do  it,  and  never  grumble  about 
it.  Say,  I  never  do  grumble,  do  I,  Oscar?"  he 
asked  earnestly. 

"  Only  once  in  a  while,  when  you  can't  help  it, 
Sandy.  I  don't  like  work  any  better  than  you  do ; 
but  it's  no  use  talking  about  it,  we've  got  to  do  it." 

"I  always  feel  so  in  the  spring,"  said  Sandy, 
very  gravely  and  with  a  little  sigh,  as  he  went 
pegging  away  down  another  furrow. 

Forty  acres  of  land  was  all  that  the  settlers 
intended  to  plant  with  corn,  for  the  first  year. 
Forty  acres  does  not  seem  a  very  large  tract  of 
land  to  speak  of,  but  when  one  sees  the  area 
marked  out  with  a  black  furrow,  and  realizes  that 
every  foot  of  it  must  be  covered  with  the  corn- 
planter,  it  looks  formidable.  The  boys  thought  it 
was  a  very  big  piece  of  land  when  they  regarded 
it  in  that  way.  But  the  days  soon  flew  by ;  and 
even  while  the  young  workers  were  stumping  over 
the  field,  they  consoled  themselves  with  visions  of 
gigantic  ripe  watermelons  and  mammoth  pumpkins 
and  squashes  that  would  regale  their  eyes  before 
long.  For,  following  the  example  of  most  Kansas 
farmers,  they  had  stuck  into  many  of  the  furrows 
with  the  corn  the  seeds  of  these  easily  grown 
vines. 

"  Keep  the  melons  a  good  way  from  the  pump- 
kins, and  the  squashes  a  good  way  from  both,  if  you 
don't  want  a  bad  mixture,"  said  Uncle  Aleck  to 


AN  INDIAN  TRAIL.  125 

the  boy  settlers.  Then  he  explained  that  if  the 
pollen  of  the  squash-blossoms  should  happen  to  fall 
on  the  melon-blossoms,  the  fruit  would  be  neither 
good  melon  nor  yet  good  squash,  but  a  poor  mix- 
ture of  both.  This  piece  of  practical  farming  was 
not  lost  on  Charlie ;  and  when  he  undertook  the 
planting  of  the  garden  spot  which  they  found  near 
the  cabin,  he  took  pains  to  separate  the  cucumber- 
beds  as  far  as  possible  from  the  hills  in  which  he 
planted  his  cantaloupe  seeds.  The  boys  were  learn- 
ing while  they  worked,  even  it  they  did  grumble 
occasionally  over  their  tasks. 


126  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

HOUSE-BUILDING. 

THERE  was  a  change  in  the  programme  of  daily 
labor,  when  the  corn  was  in  the  ground.  At  odd 
times  the  settlers  had  gone  over  to  the  wood-lot 
and  had  laid  out  their  plans  for  the  future  home 
on  that  claim.  There  was  more  variety  to  be  ex- 
pected in  house-Duilding  than  in  planting,  and  the 
boys  had  looked  forward  with  impatience  to  the 
beginning  of  that  part  of  their  enterprise.  Logs 
for  the  house  were  cut  from  the  pines  and  firs  of 
the  hill  beyond  the  river  bluff.  From  these,  too, 
were  to  be  riven,  or  split,  the  "  shakes  "  for  the 
roof-covering  and  for  the  odd  jobs  of  work  to  be 
done  about  the  premises. 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  the  boys  learned  the  use 
of  some  of  the  strange  tools  that  they  had  brought 
with  them.  They  had  wondered  over  the  frow,  an 
iron  instrument  about  fourteen  inches  long,  for 
splitting  logs.  At  right  angles  with  the  blade,  and 
fixed  in  an  eye  at  one  end,  was  a  handle  of  hard- 
wood. A  section  of  wood  was  stood  up  endwise 
on  a  firm  foundation  of  some  sort,  and  the  thin  end 


SOUSE-BUILDING.  127 

of  the  frow  was  hammered  down  into  the  grain  oi 
the  wood,  making  a  lengthwise  split. 

In  the  same  way,  the  section  of  wood  so  riven 
was  split  again  and  again  until  each  split  was  thin 
enough.  The  final  result  was  called  a  "shake." 
Shakes  were  used  for  shingles,  and  even  —  when 
nailed  on  frames  —  for  doors.  Sawed  lumber  was 
very  dear ;  and,  except  the  sashes  in  the  windows, 
every  bit  of  the  log-cabin  must  be  got  out  of  the 
primitive  forest. 

The  boys  were  proud  of  the  ample  supply  which 
their  elders  had  brought  with  them  ;  for  even  the 
knowing  Younkins,  scrutinizing  the  tools  for  wood- 
craft with  a  critical  eye,  remarked,  "  That's  a  good 
outfit,  for  a  party  of  green  settlers."  Six  stout 
wedges  of  chilled  iron,  and  a  heavy  maul  to  hammer 
them  with,  were  to  be  used  for  the  splitting  up 
of  the  big  trees  into  smaller  sections.  Wooden 
wedges  met  the  wants  of  many  people  in  those 
primitive  parts,  at  times,  and  the  man  who  had  a 
good  set  of  iron  wedges  and  a  powerful  maul  was 
regarded  with  envy. 

"  What  are  these  clumsy  rings  for  ?  "  Oscar  had 
asked  when  he  saw  the  maul-rings  taken  out  of  the 
wagon  on  their  arrival  and  unloading. 

His  uncle  smiled,  and  said,  "  You  will  find  out 
what  these  are  for,  my  lad,  when  you  undertake  to 
swing  the  maul.  Did  you  never  hear  of  splitting 
rails?  Well,  these  are  to  split  rails  and  suck 
things  from  the  log.  We  chop  off  a  length  of  a 


128  THE  BOY  SETTLEE8. 

tree,  about  eight  inches  thick,  taking  the  toughest 
and  densest  wood  we  can  find.  Trim  off  the  barfe 
from  a  bit  of  the  trunk,  which  must  be  twelve  or 
fourteen  inches  long ;  drive  your  rings  on  each  end 
of  the  block  to  keep  it  from  splitting ;  fit  a  handle 
to  one  end,  or  into  one  side  of  the  block ;  and  there 
you  have  your  maul." 

"Why,  that's  only  a  beetle,  after  all,"  cried 
Sandy,  who,  sitting  on  a  stump  near  by,  had  been 
a  deeply  interested  listener  to  his  father's  descrip* 
toin  of  the  maul. 

"Certainly,  my  son;  a  maul  is  what  people  in 
the  Eastern  States  would  call  a  beetle ;  but  you 
ask  Younkins,  some  day,  if  he  has  a  beetle  over  at 
his  place.  He,  I  am  sure,  would  never  use  the 
name  beetle." 

Log-cabin  building  was  great  fun  to  the  boys, 
although  they  did  not  find  it  easy  work.  There 
was  a  certain  novelty  about  the  raising  of  the 
structure  that  was  to  be  a  home,  and  an  interest 
in  learning  the  use  of  rude  tools  that  lasted  until 
the  cabin  was  finished.  The  maul  and  the  wedges, 
the  frow  and  the  little  maul  intended  for  it,  and 
all  the  other  means  and  appliances  of  the  building, 
were  all  new  and  strange  to  these  bright  lads. 

First,  the  size  of  the  cabin,  twelve  feet  wide 
and  twenty  feet  long,  was  marked  out  on  the  site 
on  which  it  was  to  rise,  and  four  logs  were  laid 
to  define  the  foundation.  These  were  the  sills  of 
the  new  house.  At  each  end  of  every  log  two 


HO  USE-B  UILDING.  129 

notches  were  cut,  one  on  the  under  side  and  one 
on  the  upper,  to  fit  into  similar  notches  cut  in  the 
log  below,  and  in  that  which  was  to  be  placed 
on  top.  So  each  corner  was  formed  by  these  in- 
terlacing and  overlapping  ends.  The  logs  were 
piled  up,  one  above  another,  just  as  children  build 
"cob-houses,"  from  odds  and  ends  of  playthings. 
Cabin-builders  do  not  say  that  a  cabin  is  a  certain 
number  of  feet  high;  they  usually  say  that  it  is 
ten  logs  high,  or  twelve  logs  high,  as  the  case  may 
be.  When  the  structure  is  as  high  as  the  eaves 
are  intended  to  be,  the  top  logs  are  bound  together, 
from  side  to  side,  with  smaller  logs  fitted  upon  the 
upper  logs  of  each  side  and  laid  across  as  if  they 
were  to  be  the  supports  of  a  floor  for  another  story. 
Then  the  gable-ends  are  built  up  of  logs,  shorter 
and  shorter  as  the  peak  of  the  gable  is  approached, 
and  kept  in  place  by  other  small  logs  laid  across, 
endwise  of  the  cabin,  and  locked  into  the  end  of 
each  log  in  the  gable  until  all  are  in  place.  On 
these  transverse  logs,  or  rafters,  the  roof  is  laid. 
Holes  are  cut  or  sawed  through  the  logs  for  the 
door  and  windows,  and  the  house  begins  to  look 
habitable. 

The  settlers  on  the  Republican  Fork  cut  the 
holes  for  doors  and  windows  before  they  put  on 
the  roof,  and  when  the  layer  of  split  shakes  that 
made  the  roof  was  in  place,  and  the  boys  bounded 
ioside  to  see  how  things  looked,  they  were  greatly 
amused  to  notice  how  light  it  was.  The  spaces 


130  THE  EOT  SETTLES S. 

between  the  logs  were  almost  wide  enough  to  crawl 
through,  Osoar  said.  But  they  had  studied  log- 
cabin  building  enough  to  know  that  these  wide 
cracks  were  to  be  "  chinked "  with  thin  strips  of 
wood,  the  refuse  of  ohakes,  driven  in  tightly,  and 
then  daubed  over  with  clay,  a  fine  bed  of  which 
was  fortunately  near  at  hand.  The  provident 
Younkins  had  laid  away  in  his  own  cabin  the 
sashes  and  glass  for  two  small  windows;  and  these 
he  had  agreed  to  sell  to  the  newcomers.  Partly 
hewn  logs  for  floor-joists  were  placed  upon  the 
ground  inside  the  cabin,  previously  levelled  off 
for  the  purpose.  On  these  were  laid  thick  slabs 
of  oak  and  hickory,  riven  out  of  logs  drawn  from 
the  grove  near  by.  These  slabs  of  hard-wood  were 
"  puncheons,"  and  fortunate  as  was  the  man  who 
could  have  a  floor  of  sawed  lumber  to  his  cabin, 
he  who  was  obliged  to  use  puncheons  was  better 
off  than  those  with  whom  timber  was  so  scarce 
that  the  natural  surface  on  the  ground  was  their 
only  floor. 

"  My !  how  it  rattles  ! "  w»s  Sandy's  remark  when 
he  had  first  taken  a  few  steps  on  the  new  puncheon 
floor  of  their  cabin.  "  It  sounds  like  a  tread-mill 
going  its 'rounds.  Can't  you  nail  these  down, 
daddy?" 

Hi?  Bather  explained  that  the  unseasoned  lumber 
of  the  puncheons  would  so  shrink  in  the  drying 
that  no  fastening  could  hold  them.  They  must 
lie  loosely  on  the  floor-joists  until  they  were  thor- 


HO  USE-B  UILDING.  131 

ougHy  seasoned ;  then  they  might  be  fastened 
down  with  wooden  pins  driven  throngh  holes  bored 
for  that  purpose ;  nails  and  spikes  cost  too  much 
to  be  wasted  on  a  puncheon  floor.  In  fact,  very 
little  hardware  was  wasted  on  any  part  of  that 
cabin.  Even  the  door  was  made  by  fastening  with 
wooden  pegs  a  number  of  short  pieces  of  shakes  to 
a  frame  fitted  to  the  doorway  cut  in  the  side  of 
the  cabin.  The  hinges  were  strong  bits  of  leather, 
the  soles  of  the  boots  whose  legs  had  been  used 
for  corn-droppers.  The  clumsy  wooden  latch  waa 
hung  inside  to  a  wooden  pin  driven  into  one  of  the 
crosspieces  of  the  door,  and  it  played  in  a  loop  of 
deerskin  at  the  other  end.  A  string  of  deerskin 
fastened  to  the  end  of  the  latch-bar  nearest  the 
jamb  of  the  doorway  was  passed  outside  through 
a  hole  cut  i  the  door,  serving  to  lift  the  latch 
from  without  when  a  visitor  vould  enter. 

"  Our  latch-string  hangs  out ! "  exclaimed  Char- 
lie, triumphantly,  when  this  place  of  work  was 
done.  "  I  must  say  I  never  knew  before  what  it 
meant  to  have  the  4  latch-string  hanging  out '  for 
all  comers.  See,  Oscar,  when  we  shut  up  the 
house  for  the  night,  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  pull  in 
the  latch-string,  and  the  door  is  barred.** 

"  Likewise,  when  you  have  dropped  your  jack- 
knife  through  a  crack  in  the  floor  into  the  ceDar 
beneath,  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  turn  over  »  pun- 
cheon or  two  and  get  down  and  find  it,"  said  Sandy, 
coolly,  as  he  took  up  two  slabs  and  hunted  for 


132  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

his  knife.  The  boys  soon  found  that  although 
their  home  was  rude  and  not  very  elegant  as  to 
its  furniture,  it  had  many  conveniences  that  more 
elaborate  and  handsomer  houses  did  not  have. 
There  were  no  floors  to  wash,  hardly  to  sweep. 
As  their  surroundings  were  simple,  their  wants 
were  few.  It  was  a  free  and  easy  life  that  they 
were  gradually  drifting  into,  here  in  the  wilderness. 

Charlie  declared  that  the  cabin  ought  to  have 
a  name.  As  yet,  the  land  on  which  they  had 
settled  had  no  name  except  that  of  the  river  by 
which  it  lay.  The  boys  thought  it  would  give 
some  sort  of  distinction  to  their  home  if  they 
gave  it  a  title.  "Liberty  Hall,"  they  thought 
would  be  a  good  name  to  put  on  the  roof  of  their 
log-cabin.  Something  ont  of  Cooper's  novels,  Oscar 
proposed,  would  be  the  best  for  the  1<  jality. 

"  '  Hog-and-hominy,'  how  would  that  suit  ?  " 
asked  Sandy,  with  a  laugh.  "  Unless  we  get  some 
buffalo  or  antelope  meat  pretty  soon,  it  will  be  hog 
and  hominy  to  the  end  of  the  chapter." 

"  Why  not  call  it  the  John  G.  Whittier  cabin?" 
said  Uncle  Aleck,  looking  up  from  his  work  of 
shaping  an  ox-yoke. 

"  The  very  thing,  daddy ! "  shouted  Sandy,  clap- 
ping his  hands.  "Only  don't  you  think  that's 
a  very  long  name  to  say  in  a  hurry?  Whittier 
would  be  shorter,  you  know.  But,  then,"  he 
added,  doubtfully,  "  it  isn't  everybody  that  would 
know  which  Whittier  was  meant  by  that,  would 
they?" 


HO  USE-B  UILDING.  133 

"Sandy  seems  to  think  that  the  entire  popu- 
lation of  Kansas  will  be  coming  here,  some  day, 
to  read  that  name,  if  we  ever  have  it.  We  have 
been  here  two  months  now,  and  no  living  soul  but 
ourselves  and  Younkins  has  ever  been  in  these 
diggings;  not  one.  Oh,  I  say,  let's  put  up  just 
nothing  but  'Whittier'  over  the  door  there. 
We'll  know  what  that  means,  and  if  anybody 
comes  in  the  course  of  time,  I'll  warrant  he'll 
soon  find  out  which  Whittier  it  means."  This 
was  Oscar's  view  of  the  case. 

"  Good  for  you,  Oscar ! "  said  his  uncle.  "  Whit- 
tier  let  it  be." 

Before  sundown,  that  day,  a  straight-grained 
shake  of  pine,  free  from  knot  or  blemish,  had  been 
well  smoothed  down  with  the  draw-shave,  and  on 
its  fair  surface,  writ  large,  was  the  beloved  name 
of  the  New  England  poet,  thus :  WHITTIER. 

This  was  fastened  securely  over  the  entrance  of 
the  new  log-cabin,  and  the  Boy  Settlers,  satisfied 
with  their  work,  stood  off  at  a  little  distance  and 
gave  it  three  cheers.  The  new  home  was  named. 


134  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

LOST! 

"WE  must  have  some  board-nails  and  some 
lead,"  remarked  Uncle  Aleck,  one  fine  morning, 
as  the  party  were  putting  the  finishing  touches  to 
the  Whittier  cabin.  "  Who  will  go  down  to  the 
post  and  get  them  ?  " 

"  I,"  "  I,"  "  I,"  shouted  all  three  of  the  boys  at 
once. 

"  Oh,  you  will  all  go,  will  you  ?  "  said  he,  with 
a  smile.  "  Well,  you  can't  all  go,  for  we  can  bor- 
row only  one  horse,  and  it's  ten  miles  down  there 
and  ten  miles  back ;  and  you  will  none  of  you  care 
to  walk,  I  am  very  sure." 

The  boys  looked  at  each  other  and  laughed. 
Who  should  be  the  lucky  one  to  take  that  delight- 
ful horseback  ride  down  to  the  post,  as  Fort  Riley 
was  called,  and  get  a  glimpse  of  civilization  ? 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  we'll  do,"  said  Sandy,  after 
some  good-natured  discussion.  "  Let's  draw  cuts 
to  see  who  shall  go.  Here  they  are.  You  draw 
first,  Charlie,  you  being  the  eldest  man.  Now, 
then,  Oscar.  Why,  hooray !  it's  my  cut !  I've 
drawn  the  longest,  and  so  I  am  to  go.  Oh,  it  was 


LOST!  135 

a  fair  and  square  deal,  daddy,"  he  added,  seeing 
his  father  look  sharply  at  him. 

The  matter  was  settled,  and  next  morning, 
bright  and  early,  Sandy  was  fitted  out  with  his 
commissions  and  the  money  to  buy  them  with. 
Younkins  had  agreed  to  let  him  have  his  horse, 
saddle,  and  bridle.  Work  on  the  farm  was  now 
practically  over  until  time  for  harvesting  was 
come.  So  the  other  two  boys  accompanied  Sandy 
over  to  the  Younkins  side  of  the  river  and  saw 
him  safely  off  down  the  river  road  leading  to  the 
post.  A  meal-sack  in  which  to  bring  back  his 
few  purchases  was  snugly  rolled  up  and  tied  to 
the  crupper  of  his  saddle,  and  feeling  in  his 
pocket  for  the  hundredth  time  to  make  sure  of 
the  ten-dollar  gold  piece  therein  bestowed,  Sandy 
trotted  gayly  down  the  road.  The  two  other 
boys  gazed  enviously  after  him,  and  then  went 
home,  wondering,  as  they  strolled  along,  how  long 
Sandy  would  be  away.  He  would  be  back  by 
dark  at  the  latest,  for  the  days  were  now  at  about 
their  longest,  and  the  long  summer  day  was  just 
begun. 

At  Younkins's  cabin  they  met  Hiram  Battles,  a 
neighbor  who  lived  beyond  the  divide  to  the  east- 
ward, and  who  had  just  ridden  over  in  search  of 
some  of  his  cattle  that  had  strayed  away,  during 
the  night  before.  Mr.  Battles  said  he  was  "  pow- 
erful worrited."  Indians  had  been  seen  prowling 
around  on  his  side  of  the  divide  :  but  he  had  seen 


136  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

no  signs  of  a  camp,  and  he  had  traced  the  tracks 
of  his  cattle,  three  head  in  all,  over  this  way  as  far 
as  Lone  Tree  Creek,  a  small  stream  just  this  side 
of  the  divide  ;  but  there  he  had  unaccountably  lost 
all  trace  of  them. 

"Well,  as  for  the  Indians,"  said  Charlie,  mod- 
estly, "  we  have  seen  them  passing  out  on  the  trail. 
But  they  were  going  hunting,  and  they  kept  right 
on  to  the  southward  and  westward ;  and  we  have 
not  seen  them  go  back  since." 

"  The  lad's  right,"  said  Younkins,  slowly,  "  but 
still  I  don't  like  the  stories  I  hear  down  the  road  a 
piece.  They  do  say  that  the  Shians  have  riz." 

"  The  Cheyennes  have  risen ! "  exclaimed  Char- 
lie. "And  we  have  let  Sandy  go  down  to  the  post 
alone!" 

Both  of  the  men  laughed  —  a  little  unpleasantly, 
it  seemed  to  the  boys,  although  Younkins  was  the 
soul  of  amiability  and  mildness.  But  Charlie 
thought  it  was  unkind  in  them  to  laugh  at  his 
very  natural  apprehensions  ;  and  he  said  as  much, 
as  he  and  Oscar,  with  their  clothes  on  their  heads, 
waded  the  Republican  Fork  on  the  way  home. 

"  Well,  Charlie,"  was  Oscar's  comforting  remark, 
as  they  scrambled  up  the  opposite  bank,  "  I  guess 
the  reason  why  they  laughed  at  us  was  that  if  the 
Cheyennes  have  gone  on  the  warpath,  the  danger 
is  out  in  the  west ;  whereas,  Sandy  has  gone  east- 
ward to-day,  and  that  is  right  in  the  way  of  safety, 
isn't  it  ?  He's  gone  to  the  post ;  and  you  know 


LOST!  137 

that  the  people  down  at  Soldier  Creek  told  us  that 
this  was  a  good  place  to  settle,  because  the  post 
would  be  our  protection  in  case  of  an  Indian 
rising." 

Meanwhile,  Sandy  Wc*3  blissfully  and  peacefully 
jogging  along  in  the  direction  of  the  military  post. 
Only  one  house  stood  between  Younkins's  and  the 
fort;  and  that  was  Mullett's.  They  all  had  occa- 
sion to  think  pleasantly  of  Mullett's ;  for  whenever 
an  opportunity  came  for  the  mail  to  be  forwarded 
from  the  fort  up  to  Mullett's,  it  was  sent  there ; 
then  Sparkins,  who  was  the  next  neighbor  above, 
but  who  lived  off  the  road  a  bit,  would  go  down 
to  Mullett's  and  bring  the  mail  up  to'  his  cabin ; 
when  he  did  this,  he  left  a  red  flannel  flag  flying 
on  the  roof  of  his  house,  and  Younkins,  if  passing 
along  the  trail,  saw  the  signal  and  went  out  of  his 
way  a  little  to  take  the  mail  up  to  his  cabin. 
Somehow,  word  was  sent  across  the  river  to  the 
Whittier  boys,  as  the  good  Younkins  soon  learned 
to  call  the  Boy  Settlers,  and  they  went  gladly 
over  to  Younkins's  and  got  the  precious  letters 
and  papers  from  home.  That  was  the  primitive 
way  in  which  the  mail  for  the  settlers  on  the 
Republican  Fork  went  up  the  road  from  Fort 
Riley,  in  those  days ;  and  all  letters  and  papers 
designed  for  the  settlers  along  there  were  ad- 
dressed simply  to  Fort  Riley,  which  was  their 
nearest  post-office. 

So  Sandy,  when  he  reached  Mullett's,  was  not 


138  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

disappointed  to  be  told  that  there  were  no  letters 
for  anybody  up  the  river.  There  had  been  nobody 
down  to  the  post  very  lately.  Sandy  knew  that, 
and  he  was  confident  that  he  would  have  the 
pleasure  of  bringing  up  £  good-sized  budget  when 
he  returned.  So  he  whipped  up  his  somewhat 
lazy  steed  and  cantered  down  toward  the  fort. 

Soon  after  leaving  Mullett's  he  met  a  drove  of 
sheep.  The  drivers  were  two  men  and  a  boy  of 
his  own  age,  mounted  on  horseback  and  carrying 
their  provisions,  apparently,  strapped  behind  them. 
When  he  asked  them  where  they  were  going,  they 
surlily  replied  that  they  were  going  to  California. 
That  would  take  them  right  up  the  road  that  he 
had  come  down,  Sandy  thought  to  himself.  And 
he  wondered  if  the  boys  at  home  would  see  the 
interesting  sight  of  five  hundred  sheep  going  up 
the  Republican  Fork,  bound  for  California. 

He  reached  the  fort  before  noon*  and,  with  a 
heart  beating  high  with  pleasure,  he  rode  into  the 
grounds  and  made  his  way  to  the  well-remembered 
sutler's  store  where  he  had  bought  the  candy, 
months  before.  He  had  a  few  pennies  of  his  own, 
and  he  mentally  resolved  to  spend  these  for  raisins. 
Sandy  had  a  "  sweet  tooth,"  but,  except  for  sugar 
and  molasses,  he  had  eaten  nothing  sweet  since 
they  were  last  at  Fort  Riley  on  their  way  west- 
ward. 

It  was  with  a  feeling  of  considerable  importance 
that  Sandy  surveyed  the  interior  of  the  sutler's 


LOST!  139 

store.  The  proprietor  looked  curiously  at  him,  as 
if  wondering  why  so  small  a  boy  should  turn  up 
alone  in  that  wilderness  ;  and  when  the  lad  asked 
for  letters  for  the  families  up  the  river,  Mullett's, 
Sparkins's,  Battles's,  Younkins's,  and  his  own 
people,  the  sutler  said:  "Be  you  one  of  them 
Abolitioners  that  have  named  your  place  after 
that  man  Whittier,  the  Abolition  poet?  I've 
hearn  tell  of  you,  and  I've  hearn  tell  of  him. 
And  he  ain't  no  good.  Do  you  hear  me  ?  "  Sandy 
replied  that  he  heard  him,  and  to  himself  he  won- 
dered greatly  how  anybody,  away  down  here,  ten 
miles  from  the  new  home,  could  possibly  have 
heard  about  the  name  they  had  given  to  their 
cabin. 

Several  soldiers  who  had  been  lounging  around 
the  place  now  went  out  at  the  door.  The  sutler, 
looking  cautiously  about  as  if  to  be  sure  that 
nobody  heard  him,  said :  "  Never  you  mind  what 
I  said  just  now,  sonny.  Right  you  are,  and  that 
man  Whittier  writes  the  right  sort  of  stuff.  Bet 
yer  life  !  I'm  no  Abolitioner ;  but  I'm  a  free- 
State  man,  I  am,  every  time." 

"Then  what  made  you  talk  like  that,  just 
now?"  asked  Sandy,  his  honest,  freckled  face 
glowing  with  righteous  indignation.  "  If  you  like 
Mr.  John  G.  Whittier's  poetry,  why  did  you  say 
he  wasn't  any  good?" 

"Policy,  policy,  my  little  man.  This  yere's  a 
pro-slavery  guv'ment,  and  this  yere  is  a  pro-slav- 


140  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

ery  post.  I  couldn't  keep  this  place  one  single 
day  if  they  thought  I  was  a  free-State  man.  See  ? 
But  I  tell  you  right  here,  and  don't  you  fergit  it, 
this  yere  country  is  going  to  be  free  State.  Kan- 
sas is  no  good  for  slavery ;  and  slavery  can't  get 
in  here.  Stick  a  pin  there,  and  keep  your  eye 
on  it." 

With  some  wonder  and  much  disgust  at  the 
man's  cowardice,  Sandy  packed  his  precious  letters 
in  the  bosom  of  his  shirt.  Into  one  end  of  his 
meal-sack  he  put  a  pound  of  soda-biscuit  for  which 
his  Uncle  Charlie  had  longed,  a  half-pound  of 
ground  ginger  with  which  Charlie  desired  to  make 
some  "molasses  gingerbread,  like  mother's,"  and 
a  half-pound  of  smoking-tobacco  for  his  dear 
father.  It  seemed  a  long  way  off  to  his  father 
now,  Sandy  thought,  as  he  tied  up  that  end  of  the 
bag.  Then  into  the  other  end,  having  tied  the 
bag  firmly  around,  about  a  foot  and  a  half  from 
the  mouth,  he  put  the  package  of  nails  and  a  roll 
of  sheet  lead.  It  had  been  agreed  that  if  they 
were  to  go  buffalo-hunting,  they  must  have  rifle- 
balls  and  bullets  for  their  shot-guns. 

The  sutler,  who  had  become  very  friendly, 
looked  on  with  an  amused  smile,  and  said,  "  Tears 
to  me,  sonny,  you  got  all  the  weight  at  one  end, 
haven't  you  ?  " 

Sandy  did  not  like  to  be  called  "  sonny,"  but  he 
good-naturedly  agreed  that  he  had  made  a  mis- 
take ;  so  he  began  all  over  again  and  shifted  his 


LOST!  141 

cargo  so  that  the  nails  and  a  box  of  yeast-powder 
occupied  one  end  of  the  meal-sack,  and  the  other 
articles  balanced  the  other.  The  load  was  then 
tied  closely  to  the  crupper  of  the  saddle  and  the 
boy  was  ready  to  start  on  his  homeward  trip.  His 
eyes  roved  longingly  over  the  stock  of  goodies 
which  the  sutler  kept  for  the  children,  young  and 
old,  of  the  garrison,  and  he  asked,  "How  much 
for  raisins  ?  " 

"  Two  bits  a  pound  for  box,  and  fifteen  cents  for 
cask,"  replied  the  man,  sententiously. 

"  Give  me  half  a  pound  of  cask  raisins,"  said 
the  boy,  with  some  hesitation.  He  had  only  a  few 
cents  to  spare  for  his  own  purchases. 

The  sutler  weighed  out  a  half-pound  of  box 
raisins,  did  them  up,  and  handed  them  across  the 
counter,  saying,  "  No  pay ;  them's  for  Whittier." 

Sandy  took  the  package,  shoved  it  into  his 
shirt-bosom,  and,  wondering  if  his  "  Thank  you " 
were  sufficient  payment  for  the  gift,  mounted  his 
steed,  rode  slowly  up  the  road  to  a  spring  that  he 
had  noticed  bubbling  out  of  the  side  of  a  ravine, 
and  with  a  thankful  heart,  turning  out  the  horse 
to  graze,  sat  down  to  eat  his  frugal  lunch,  now 
graced  with  the  dry  but  to  him  delicious  raisins. 
So  the  sutler  at  Fort  Riley  was  a  free-State  man ! 
Wasn't  that  funny ! 

It  was  a  beautifully  bright  afternoon,  and 
Sandy,  gathering  his  belongings  together,  started 
up  the  river  road  on  a  brisk  canter.  The  old 


142  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

horse  was  a  hard  trotter,  and  when  he  slackened 
dcwn  from  a  canter,  poor  Sandy  shook  in  every 
muscle,  and  his  teeth  chattered  as  if  he  had  a  fit 
of  ague.  But  whenever  the  lad  contrived  to 
urge  his  steed  into  an  easier  gait  he  got  on 
famously.  The  scenery  along  the  Republican  Fork 
is  (or  was)  very  agreeable  to  the  eye.  Long 
slopes  of  vivid  green  stretched  off  in  every  direc- 
tion, their  rolling  sides  dropping  into  deep  ravines 
through  which  creeks,  bordered  with  dense  growths 
of  alder,  birch,  and  young  cottonwood,  meandered. 
The  sky  was  blue  and  cloudless,  and,  as  the  boy 
sped  along  the  breezy  uplands,  the  soft  and  balmy 
air  fanning  his  face,  he  sung  and  whistled  to  ex- 
press the  fervor  of  his  buoyant  spirits.  He  was  a 
hearty  and  a  happy  boy. 

Suddenly  he  came  to  a  fork  in  the  road  which 
he  had  not  noticed  when  he  came  down  that  way 
in  the  morning.  For  a  moment  he  was  puzzled 
by  the  sight.  Both  were  broad  and  smooth  tracks 
over  the  grassy  prairie,  and  both  rose  and  fell  over 
the  rolling  ground ;  only,  one  led  to  the  left  and 
somewhat  southerly,  and  the  other  to  the  right. 
"  Pshaw ! "  muttered  Sandy,  and  he  paused  and 
rubbed  his  head  for  an  idea.  "  That  left-hand 
road  must  strike  off  to  some  ford  lower  down  on 
the  Fork  than  I  have  ever  been.  But  I  never 
heard  of  any  ford  below  ours." 

With  that,  his  keen  eyes  noticed  that  the  right- 
hand  road  was  cut  and  marked  with  the  many 


LOST!  143 

hoof-tracks  of  a  flock  of  sheep.  He  argued  to 
himself  that  the  sheep-drivers  had  told  him  that 
they  were  going  to  California.  The  California 
road  led  up  the  bank  of  the  Republican  Fork  close 
to  the  trail  that  led  him  from  Younkins's  to  the 
ford  across  the  river.  The  way  was  plain;  so, 
striking  his  spur  into  the  old  sorrel's  side,  he 
dashed  on  up  the  right-hand  road,  singing  gayly  as 
he  went. 

Absorbed  in  the  mental  calculation  as  to  the 
number  of  days  that  it  would  take  that  flock  of 
sheep  to  reach  California,  the  boy  rode  on,  hardly 
noticing  the  landmarks  by  the  way,  or  taking  in 
anything  but  the  general  beauty  of  the  broad  and 
smiling  landscape  over  which  the  yellow  light  of 
the  afternoon  sun,  sinking  in  the  west,  poured  a 
flood  of  splendor.  Slackening  his  speed  as  he 
passed  a  low  and  sunken  little  round  valley  filled 
with  brush  and  alders,  he  heard  a  queer  sound 
like  the  playful  squealing  of  some  wild  animal. 
Slipping  off  his  saddle  and  leading  his  horse  by 
the  bridle  over  the  thick  turf,  Sandy  cautiously 
approached  the  edge  of  the  valley,  the  margin  of 
which  was  steep  and  well  sheltered  by  a  growth 
of  cottonwoods.  After  peering  about  for  some 
time,  the  lad  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  beautiful  sight. 
A  young  doe  and  her  fawn  were  playing  together 
in  the  open  meadow  below,  absolutely  unconscious 
of  the  nearness  of  any  living  thing  besides  them- 
selves. The  mother-deer  was  browsing,  now  and 


144  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

again,  and  at  times  the  fawn,  playful  as  a  young 
kitten,  would  kick  its  heels,  or  butt  its  head 
against  its  mother's  side,  and  both  would  squeal 
in  a  comical  way. 

Sandy  had  never  seen  deer  in  a  state  of  living 
wildness  before,  and  his  heart  thumped  heavily  in 
his  breast  as  he  gazed  on  the  wonderful  sight.  He 
half  groaned  to  himself  that  he  was  a  great  fool 
to  have  come  away  from  home  without  a  gun. 
What  an  easy  shot  it  was !  How  nicely  he  could 
knock  over  the  mother,  if  only  he  had  a  shot-gun ! 
She  was  within  such  short  range.  Then  he  felt  a 
sinking  of  the  heart,  as  he  imagined  the  horror  of 
death  that  would  have  overtaken  the  innocent  and 
harmless  creatures,  sporting  there  so  thoughtless 
of  man's  hunting  instincts  and  cruelty.  Would 
he  kill  them,  if  he  had  the  weapon  to  kill  with  ? 
He  could  not  make  up  his  mind  that  he  would. 
So  he  crouched  silently  in  the  underbrush,  and 
watched  the  pretty  sight  as  if  it  were  a  little  animal 
drama  enacted  here  in  the  wilderness,  mother  and 
child  having  a  romp  in  their  wildwood  home. 

"Well,  I'll  give  them  a  good  scare,  anyhow," 
muttered  the  boy,"  his  sportive  instincts  getting 
the  better  of  his  tender-heartedness  at  last.  He 
dashed  up  noisily  from  the  underbrush,  swung  his 
arms,  and  shouted,  "Boo!"  Instantly  deer  and 
fawn,  with  two  or  three  tremendous  bounds,  were 
out  of  the  little  valley  and  far  away  on  the  prairie, 
skimming  over  the  rolls  of  green,  and  before  the 


LO**  :  145 

boy  couid  catch  his  breath,  they  had  disappeared 
into  one  of  the  many  dells  and  ravines  that  inter- 
laced the  landscape. 

But  another  animal  was  scared  by  the  boy's 
shout.  In  his  excitement  he  had  slipped  the  bri- 
dle-rein from  his  arm,  and  the  old  sorrel,  terrified 
by  his  halloo,  set  off  on  a  brisk  trot  down  the  road. 
In  vain  Sandy  called  to  him  to  stop.  Free  from 
guidance,  the  horse  trotted  along,  and  when,  after 
a  long  chase,  Sandy  caught  up  with  his  steed,  a 
considerable  piece  of  road  had  been  covered  the 
wrong  way,  for  the  horse  had  gone  back  over 
the  line  of  march.  When  Sandy  was  once  more 
mounted,  and  had  mopped  his  perspiring  forehead, 
he  cast  his  eye  along  the  road,  and,  to  his  dismay, 
discovered  that  the  sheep-tracks  had  disappeared. 
What  had  become  of  the  sheep  ?  How  could  they 
have  left  the  trail  without  his  sooner  noticing  it? 
He  certainly  had  not  passed  another  fork  of  the 
road  since  coming  into  this  at  the  fork  below. 

"  This  is  more  of  my  heedlessness,  mother  would 
say,"  muttered  Sandy  to  himself.  "What  a  big 
fool  I  must  have  been  to  miss  seeing  where  the 
sheep  left  the  trail !  I  shall  never  make  a  good 
plainsman  if  I  don't  keep  my  eye  skinned  better 
than  this.  Jingo !  it's  getting  toward  sundown  ! " 
Sure  enough,  the  sun  was  near  the  horizon,  and 
Sandy  could  see  none  of  the  familiar  signs  of  the 
country  round  about  the  Fork. 

But  he  pushed  on.     It  was  too  late  now  to  re- 


146  THE  BOY  SETTLEES. 

turn  to  the  fork  of  the  road  and  explore  the  other 
branch.  He  was  in  for  it.  He  remembered, 
too,  that  two  of  their  most  distant  neighbors,  Mr. 
Fuller  and  his  wife,  lived  somewhere  back  of 
Battles's  place,  and  it  was  barely  possible  that  it 
was  on  the  creek,  whose  woody  and  crooked  line 
he  could  now  see  far  to  the  westward,  that  their 
log-cabin  was  situated.  He  had  seen  Mr.  Fuller 
over  at  the  Fork  once  or  twice,  and  he  remembered 
him  as  a  gentle-mannered  and  kindly  man.  Surely 
he  must  live  on  this  creek !  So  he  pushed  on  with 
new  courage,  for  his  heart  had  begun  to  sink  when 
he  finally  realized  that  he  was  far  off  his  road. 

The  sun  was  down  when  he  reached  the  creek. 
No  sign  of  human  habitation  was  in  sight.  In 
those  days  cabins  and  settlements  were  very,  very 
few  and  far  between,  and  a  traveller  once  off  his 
trail  might  push  on  for  hundreds  of  miles  without 
finding  any  trace  of  human  life. 

In  the  gathering  dusk  the  heavy-hearted  boy 
rode  along  the  banks  of  the  creek,  anxiously  look- 
ing out  for  some  sign  of  settlers.  It  was  as  lonely 
and  solitary  as  if  no  man  had  ever  seen  its  savage- 
ness  before.  Now  and  then  a  nightrbird  called 
from  a  thicket,  as  if  asking  wha't  interloper  came 
into  these  solitudes ;  or  a  scared  jack-rabbit  scam- 
pered away  from  his  feeding-ground,  as  the  steps  of 
the  horse  tore  through  the  underbrush.  Even  the 
old  sorrel  seemed  to  gaze  reproachfully  at  the  lad, 
who  had  dismounted,  and  now  led  the  animal 
through  the  wild  and  tangled  undergrowths. 


LOST! 


LOST 4  A*. 

When  he  had  gone  up  and  down  the  creek  sev- 
eral times,  hunting  for  some  trace  of  a  settlement, 
and  finding  none,  hf  reflected  that  Fuller's  house 
was  on  the  side  r  *  ie  stream,  to  the  west.  It  was 
a  very  crooked  stream,  and  he  was  not  sure,  in 
the  darkness,  which  ^as  west  and  which  was  east. 
But  he  boldly  plunged  into  the  creek,  mounting 
his  horse,  and  urging  the  unwilling  beast  across. 
Once  over,  he  explored  that  side  of  the  stream, 
hither  and  yon,  in  vain.  Again  he  crossed,  and 
so  many  times  did  he  cross  and  recross  that  he 
finally  had  no  idea  where  he  was.  Then  the  con- 
viction came  fully  into  his  mind :  He  was  lost. 

The  disconsolate  boy  sat  down  on  a  fallen  tree 
and  meditated.  It  was  useless  to  go  farther.  He 
was  tired  in  every  limb  and  very,  very  hungry. 
He  bethought  himself  of  the  soda-biscuits  in  his 
sack.  He  need  not  starve,  at  any  rate.  Dobbin 
was  grazing  contentedly  while  the  lad  meditated, 
so  slipping  off  the  saddle  and  the  package  attached 
to  it,  Sandy  prepared  to  satisfy  his  hunger  with 
what  little  provisions  he  had  at  hand.  How 
queerly  the  biscuits  tasted  1  Jolting  up  and  down 
on  the  horse's  back,  they  were  well  broken  up. 
But  what  was  this  so  hot  in  the  mouth?  Ginger? 
Sure  enough,  it  was  ginger.  The  pounding  that 
had  crushed  the  biscuits  had  broken  open  the 
package  of  ginger,  and  that  spicy  stuff  was  plenti- 
fully sprinkled  all  over  the  contents  of  the  sack. 

"Gingerbread,"  muttered  Sandy,  grimly,  as  he 


148  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

blew  out  of  his  mouth  some  of  the  powdery  spice. 
"  Faugh !  Tobacco ! "  he  cried  next.  His  father's 
package  of  smoking-tobacco  had  shared  the  late 
of  the  ginger.  Sandy's  supper  was  spoiled ;  and 
resigning  himself  to  spending  the  night  hungry  in 
the  wilderness,  he  tethered  the  horse  to  a  tree,  put 
the  saddle-blanket  on  the  ground,  arranged  the 
saddle  for  a  pillow,  and,  having  cut  a  few  leafy 
boughs  from  the  alders,  stuck  them  into  the  turf 
so  as  to  form  a  shelter  around  his  head,  and  lay 
down  to  pleasant  dreams. 

"  And  this  is  Saturday  night,  too,"  thought  the 
lost  boy.  "  They  are  having  beans  baked  in  the 
ground-oven  at  home  in  the  cabin.  They  are  won- 
dering where  I  am.  What  would  mother  say  if 
she  knew  I  was  lost  out  here  on  Flyaway  Creek  ?  " 
And  the  boy's  heart  swelled  a  little,  and  a  few 
drops  of  water  stood  in  his  eyes,  for  he  had  never 
been  lost  before  in  his  life.  He  looked  up  at  the 
leaden  sky,  now  overcast,  and  wondered  if  God 
saw  this  lost  boy.  A  few  drops  fell  on  his  cheek. 
Tears  ?  No ;  worse  than  that ;  it  was  rain. 

"  Well,  this  is  a  little  too  much,"  said  Sandy, 
stoutly.  "  Here  goes  for  one  more  trial."  So  say- 
ing, he  saddled  and  mounted  his  patient  steed, 
and,  at  a  venture,  took  a  new  direction  around  a 
bend  in  the  creek.  As  he  rounded  the  bend,  the 
bark  of  a  dog  suddenly  rung  from  a  mass  of  gloom 
and  darkness.  How  sweet  the  sound  !  Regardless 
of  the  animal's  angry  challenge,  he  pressed  on. 


LOST!  149 

That  mass  of  blackness  was  a  log-barn,  and  near 
by  was  a  corral  with  cows  therein.  Then  a  light 
shone  from  the  log-cabin,  and  a  man's  voice  was 
heard  calling  the  dog. 

Fuller's  ! 

The  good  man  of  the  house  received  the  lad 
with  open  arms,  and  cared  for  his  horse ;  inside 
the  cabin,  Mrs.  Fuller,  who  had  heard  the  conver- 
sation without,  had  made  ready  a  great  pan  of  milk 
and  a  loaf  of  bread,  having  risen  from  her  bed  to 
care  for  the  young  wanderer.  Never  did  bread 
and  milk  taste  so  deliciously  to  weary  traveller  as 
this !  Full-fed,  Sandy  looked  at  the  clock  on  the 
wall,  and  marked  with  wondering  eye  that  it  was 
past  midnight.  He  had  recounted  his  trials  as  he 
ate,  and  the  sympathizing  couple  had  assured  him 
that  he  had  been  deceived  by  the  sheep-driver.  It 
was  very  unlikely  that  he  was  driving  his  flock  to 
California.  And  it  was  probable  that,  coming  to 
some  place  affording  food  and  water,  the  sheep  had 
left  the  main  road  and  had  camped  down  in  one  of 
the  ravines  out  of  sight. 

As  Sandy  composed  his  weary  limbs  in  a  blanket- 
lined  bunk  opposite  that  occupied  by  Fuller  and 
his  wife,  he  was  conscious  that  he  gave  a  long, 
long  sigh  as  if  in  his  sleep.  And,  as  he  drifted  off 
into  slumber-land,  he  heard  the  good  woman  say, 
"  Well,  he's  out  of  his  troubles,  poor  boy ! "  Sandy 
chuckled  to  himself  and  slept. 


150  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MORE  HOUSE-BUILDING. 

IT  was  an  anxious  and  wondering  household 
that  Sandy  burst  in  upcn  next  morning,  when  he 
had  reached  the  cabin,  escorted  to  the  divide  above 
Younkins's  place  by  his  kind-hearted  host  of  the 
night  before.  It  was  Sunday  morning,  bright  and 
beautiful ;  but  truly,  never  had  any  home  looked 
so  pleasant  to  his  eyes  as  did  the  homely  and 
weather-beaten  log-cabin  which  they  called  their 
own  while  they  lived  in  it.  He  had  left  his  bor- 
rowed horse  with  its  owner,  and,  shouldering  his 
meal-sack,  with  its  dearly  bought  contents,  he  had 
taken  a  short-cut  to  the  cabin,  avoiding  the  usual 
trail  in  order  that  as  he  approached  he  might  not 
be  seen  from  the  window  looking  down  the  river. 

"  Oh,  Sandy's  all  right,"  he  heard  his  brother 
Charlie  say.  "  I'll  stake  my  life  that  he  will  come 
home  with  flying  colors,  if  you  only  give  him  time. 
He's  lost  the  trail  somehow,  and  had  to  put  up 
at  some  cabin  all  night.  Don't  you  worry  about 
Sandy." 

"  But  these  Indian  stories  ;  I  don't  like  them," 
said  his  father,  with  a  tinge  of  sadness  in  his  voice. 


JfOEE  HOUSE-BUILDING.  151 

Sandy  could  bear  no  more  ;  so,  flinging  down 
his  burden,  he  bounced  into  the  cabin  with,  "  Oh, 
I'm  all  right !  Safe  and  sound,  but  as  hungry  as 
a  bear." 

The  little  party  rushed  to  embrace  the  young 
adventurer,  and,  in  their  first  flush  of  surprise, 
nobody  remembered  to  be  severe  with  him  for  his 
carelessness.  Quite  the  hero  of  the  hour,  the  lad 
sat  on  the  table  and  told  them  his  tale,  how  he  had 
lost  his  way,  and  how  hospitably  and  well  he  had 
been  cared  for  at  Fuller's. 

"  Fuller's  !  "  exclaimed  his  uncle.  "  What  in 
the  world  took  you  so  far  off  your  track  as 
Fuller's  ?  You  must  have  gone  at  least  ten  miles 
out  of  your  way." 

"Yes,  Uncle  Charlie,"  said  the  boy,  "it's  just  as 
easy  to  travel  ten  miles  out  of  the  way  as  it  is  to 
go  one.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  get  your  face  in 
the  wrong  way,  and  all  the  rest  is  easy.  Just  keep 
a-going ;  that's  what  I  did.  I  turned  to  the  right 
instead  of  to  the  left,  and  for  once  I  found  that 
the  right  was  wrong." 

A  burst  of  laughter  from  Oscar,  who  had  been 
opening  the  sack  that  held  Sandy's  purchases,  in- 
terrupted  the  story. 

"  Just  see  what  a  hodgepodge  of  a  mess  Sandy 
has  brought  home  !  Tobacco,  biscuits,  ginger,  and 
I  don't  know  what  not,  all  in  a  pudding.  It  only 
lacks  milk  and  eggs  to  make  it  a  cracker  pudding 
flavored  with  ginger  and  smoking-tobacco ! "  And 


16*  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

everybody  joined  in  the  laugh  that  a  glance  at 
Sandy's  load  called  forth. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  blushing  boy ;  "  I  forgot  to  tie 
the  bag  at  both  ends,  and  the  jouncing  up  and 
down  of  Younkins's  old  horse  (dear  me !  wasn't  he 
a  hard  trotter !)  must  have  made  a  mash  of  every- 
thing in  the  bag.  The  paper  of  tobacco  burst,  and 
then  I  suppose  the  ginger  followed ;  the  jolting  of 
poor  old  '  Dobbin '  did  the  rest.  Ruined,  daddy  ? 
Nothing  worth  saving  ?  " 

Mr.  Howell  ruefully  acknowledged  that  the 
mixture  was  not  good  to  eat,  nor  yet  to  smoke, 
and  certainly  not  to  make  gingerbread  of.  So, 
after  picking  out  some  of  the  larger  pieces  of  the 
biscuits,  the  rest  was  thrown  away,  greatly  to 
Sandy's  mortification. 

"  All  of  my  journey  gone  for  nothing,"  he  said, 
with  a  sigh. 

"  Never  mind,  my  boy,"  said  his  father,  fondly ; 
"  since  you  have  come  back  alive  and  well,  let  the 
rest  of  the  business  care  for  itself.  As  long  as  you 
are  alive,  and  the  redskins  have  not  captured  you, 
I  am  satisfied." 

Such  was  Sandy's  welcome  home. 

With  the  following  Monday  morning  came  hard 
work,  —  harder  work,  so  Sandy  thought,  than  mis- 
erably trying  to  find  one's  way  in  the  darkness  of 
a  strange  region  of  country.  For  another  log- 
house,  this  time  on  the  prairie  claim,  was  to  be 
begun  at  once.  They  might  be  called  on  at  any 


MORE  HOUSE-BUILDING.  1^3 

time  to  give  up  the  cabin  in  wh'ch  they  were 
simply  tenants  at  will,  and  it  was  necessary  that 
a  house  of  some  sort  be  put  on  the  claim  that  they 
had  staked  out  and  planted.  The  corn  was  up  and 
doing  well.  Sun  and  rain  had  contributed  to 
hasten  on  the  corn-field,  and  the  vines  of  the 
melons  were  vigorously  pushing  their  way  up  and 
down  the  hills  of  grain.  Charlie  wondered  what 
they  would  do  with  so  many  watermelons  when 
they  ripened ;  there  would  be  hundreds  of  them ; 
and  the  mouths  that  were  to  eat  them,  although 
now  watering  for  the  delicious  fruit,  were  not 
numerous  enough  to  make  away  with  a  hundredth 
part  of  what  would  be  ripe  very  soon.  There  was 
no  market  nearer  than  the  post,  and  there  were- 
many  melon-patches  between  Whittier's  and  the 
fort. 

But  the  new  log-house,  taken  hold  of  with 
energy,  was  soon  built  up  to  the  height  where  the 
roof  was  to  be  put  on.  At  this  juncture,  Younkins 
advised  them  to  roof  over  the  cabin  slightly,  make- 
a  corn-bin  of  it.  and  wait  for  developments.  For. 
he  argued,  if  there  should  be  any  rush  of  emigrants 
and  settlers  to  that  part  of  the  country,  so  that 
their  claims  were  in  danger  of  dispute,  they  would 
have  ample  warning,  and  could  make  ready  for  an 
immediate  occupation  of  the  place.  If  nobody 
came,  then  the  corn-house,  or  bin,  would  be  all 
they  wanted  of  the  structure. 

But  Mr.  Howell,  who  took  the  lead  in  all  such 


154  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

matters,  shook  his  head  doubtfully.  He  was  not 
in  favor  of  evading  the  land  laws ;  he  was  more 
afraid  of  the  claim  being  jumped.  If  they  were  to 
come  home  from  a  hunting  trip,  some  time,  and 
find  their  log-cabin  occupied  by  a  "  claim-jumper," 
or  "squatter,"  as  these  interlopers  are  called,  and 
their  farm  in  the  possession  of  strangers,  wouldn't 
they  feel  cheap  ?  He  thought  so. 

"  Say,  Uncle  Aleck,"  said  Oscar,  "  why  not  finish 
it  off  as  a  cabin  to  live  in,  put  in  the  corn  when  it 
ripens,  and  then  we  shall  have  the  concern  as  a 
dwelling,  in  case  there  is  any  danger  of  the  claim 
being  jumped?" 

"  Great  head,  Oscar,"  said  his  uncle,  admiringly. 
"  That  is  the  best  notion  yet.  We  will  complete 
the  cabin  just  as  if  we  were  to  move  into  it,  and  if 
anybody  who  looks  like  an  intended  claim-jumper 
comes  prowling  around,  we  will  take  the  alarm  and 
move  in.  But  so  far,  I'm  sure,  there's  been  no 
rush  to  these  parts.  It's  past  planting  season,  and 
it  is  not  likely  that  anybody  will  get  up  this  way, 
now  so  far  west,  without  our  knowing  it." 

So  the  log-cabin,  or,  as  they  called  it,  "  Whittier, 
Number  Two,"  was  finished  with  all  that  the  land 
laws  required,  with  a  window  filled  with  panes  of 
glass,  a  door,  and  a  "  stick  chimney  "  built  of  sticks 
plastered  with  clay,  a  floor  and  space  enough  on 
the  ground  to  take  care  of  a  family  twice  as  large 
as  theirs,  in  case  of  need.  When  all  was  done, 
they  felt  that  they  were  now  able  to  hold  their 


MORE  HOUSE-BUILDING.  155 

farming  claim  as  well  as  their  timber  claim,  for  on 
each  was  a  goodly  log-house,  fit  to  live  in  and  com- 
fortable for  the  coming  winter  if  they  should  make 
up  their  minds  to  live  in  the  two  cabins  during 
that  trying  season. 

The  boys  took  great  satisfaction  in  their  kitchen- 
garden  near  the  house  in  which  they  were  ten- 
ants ;  for  when  Younkins  lived  there,  he  had 
ploughed  and  spaded  the  patch,  and  planted  it  two 
seasons,  so  now  it  was  an  old  piece  of  ground  com- 
pared with  the  wild  land  that  had  just  been  broken 
up  around  it.  In  their  garden-spot  they  had  planted 
a  variety  of  vegetables  for  the  table,  and  in  the 
glorious  Kansas  sunshine,  watered  by  frequent 
showers,  they  were  thriving  wonderfully.  They 
promised  themselves  much  pleasure  and  profit  from 
a  garden  that  they  would  make  by  their  new  cabin, 
when  another  summer  should  come. 

"Younkins  says  that  he  can  walk  all  over  his 
melon-patch  on  the  other  side  of  the  Fork,  stepping 
only  on  the  melons  and  never  touching  the  ground 
once,"  said  Oscar,  one  day,  later  in  the  season,  as 
they  were  feasting  themselves  on  one  of  the  deli- 
cious watermelons  that  now  so  plentifully  dotted 
their  own  corn-field. 

"  What  a  big  story ! "  exclaimed  both  of  the 
other  boys  at  once.  But  Oscar  appealed  to  his 
father,  who  came  striding  by  the  edge  of  the  field 
where  they  chatted  together.  Had  he  ever  heard 
of  such  a  thing  ?  ^ 


156  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Bryant,  good-naturedly,  "I 
have  heard  of  melons  so  thick  in  a  patch,  and 
«o  big  around,  that  the  sunshine  couldn't  get  to 
the  ground  except  at  high  noon.  How  is  that  for 
a  tall  story?" 

The  boys  protested  that  that  was  only  a  tale  of 
fancy.  Could  it  be  possible  that  anybody  could 
raise  melons  so  thickly  together  as  Mr.  Younkins 
had  said  he  had  seen  them  ?  Mr.  Bryant,  having 
kicked  open  a  fine  melon,  took  out  the  heart  of  it 
to  refresh  himself  with,  as  was  the  manner  of  the 
settlers,  where  the  fruit  was  so  plenty  and  the 
market  so  far  out  of  reach ;  then,  between  long 
drafts  of  the  delicious  pulp,  he  explained  that  cer- 
tain things,  melons  for  example,  flourished  better 
on  the  virgin  soil  of  the  sod  than  elsewhere. 

"  Another  year  or  so,"  he  said,  "  and  you  will 
never  see  on  this  patch  of  land  such  melons  as 
these.  They  will  never  do  so  well  again  on  this 
soil  as  this  year.  I  never  saw  such  big  melons  as 
these,  and  if  we  had  planted  them  a  little  nearer 
together,  I  don't  in  the  least  doubt  that  any  smart 
boy,  like  Sandy  here,  could  walk  all  over  the  field 
stepping  from  one  melon  to  another,  if  he  only  had 
a  pole  to  balance  himself  with  as  he  walked.  There 
would  be  nothing  very  'wonderful-like'  about  that. 
It's  a  pity  that  we  have  no  use  for  these,  there  are 
so  many  of  them  and  they  are  so  good.  Pity  some 
of  the  folks  at  home  haven't  a  few  of  them  —  a 
hundred  or  two,  for  instance." 


MOEE  HOUSE-BUILDING.  157 

It  did  seem  a  great  waste  of  good  things  that 
these  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  great  watermelons 
should  decay  on  the  ground  for  lack  of  somebody 
to  eat  them.  In  the  very  wantonness  of  their 
plenty  the  settlers  had  been  accustomed  to  break 
open  two  or  three  of  the  finest  of  the  fruit  before 
they  could  satisfy  themselves  that  they  had  got 
one  of  the  best.  Even  then  they  only  took  the 
choicest  parts,  leaving  the  rest  to  the  birds.  By 
night,  too,  the  coyotes,  or  prairie-wolves,  mean 
and  sneaking  things  that  they  were,  would  steal 
down  into  the  melon-patch,  and,  in  the  desperation 
of  their  hunger,  nose  into  the  broken  melons  left 
by  the  settlers,  and  attempt  to  drag  away  some  of 
the  fragments,  all  the  time  uttering  their  fiendish 
yelps  and  howls. 

Somebody  had  told  the  boys  that  the  juice  of 
watermelons  boiled  to  a  thick  syrup  was  a  very 
good  substitute  for  molasses.  Younkins  told  them 
that,  back  in  old  Missouri,  "many  families  never 
had  any  other  kind  of  sweetenin'  in  the  house  than 
watermelon  molasses."  So  Charlie  made  an  experi- 
ment with  the  juice  boiled  until  it  was  pretty 
thick.  All  hands  tasted  it,  and  all  hands  voted 
that  it  was  very  poor  stuff.  They  decided  that 
they  could  not  make  their  superabundance  of 
watermelons  useful  except  as  an  occasional  refresh- 
ment. 


158  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PLAY  COMES   AFTER   WORK. 

THE  two  cabins  built,  wood  for  the  winter  cul; 
and  hauled,  and  the  planting  all  done,  there  was 
now  nothing  left  to  do  but  to  wait  and  see  the 
crop  ripen.  Their  good  friend  Younkins  was  in 
the  same  fortunate  condition,  and  he  was  ready  to 
suggest,  to  the  intense  delight  of  the  boys,  that 
they  might  be  able  to  run  into  a  herd  of  buffalo,  if 
they  should  take  a  notion  to  follow  the  old  Indian 
trail  out  to  the  feeding-grounds.  In  those  days 
there  was  no  hunting  west  of  the  new  settlement, 
except  that  by  the  Indians.  In  that  vague  and 
mysterious  way  by  which  reports  travel  —  in  the 
air,  as  it  were  —  among  all  frontier  settlements, 
they  had  heard  that  buffalo  were  plenty  in  the 
vast  ranges  to  the  westward,  the  herds  moving 
slowly  northward,  grazing  as  they  went.  It  was 
now  the  season  of  wild  game,  and  so  the  boys 
were  sent  across  to  Younkins's  to  ask  him  what  he 
thought  of  a  buffalo-hunting  trip. 

Reaching  his  cabin,  the  good  woman  of  the  house 
told  them  that  he  had  gone  into  the  tall  timber 
near  by,  thinking  he  heard  some  sort  of  wild  birds 


PLAT   COMES  AFTER    WOEK.  159 

in  the  underbrush.  He  had  taken  his  gun  with 
him ;  in  fact,  Younkins  was  seldom  seen  without 
his  gun,  except  when  he  was  at  work  in  the  fields. 
The  boys  gleefully  followed  Younkins's  trail  into 
the  forest,  making  for  an  opening  about  a  half-mile 
away,  where  Mrs.  Younkins  thought  he  was  most 
likely  to  be  found.  "  Major,"  the  big  yellow  dog,  a 
special  pet  of  Sandy's,  accompanied  them,  although 
his  mistress  vainly  tried  to  coax  him  back.  Major 
was  fond  of  boys'  society. 

"  There's  Younkins  now ! "  cried  Oscar,  as  they 
drew  near  an  opening  in  the  wood  into  which  the 
hot  sunlight  poured.  Younkins  was  half  crouch- 
ing and  cautiously  making  his  way  into  the  nearer 
side  of  the  opening,  and  the  boys,  knowing  that 
he  was  on  the  track  of  game,  silently  drew  near, 
afraid  of  disturbing  the  hunter  or  the  hunted.  Sud- 
denly Major,  catching  sight  of  the  game,  bounded 
forward  with  a  loud  bark  into  the  tangle  of  berry 
bushes  and  vines.  There  was  a  confused  noise  of 
wings,  a  whistle  of  alarm  which  also  sounded  like 
the  gobble  of  a  turkey,  and  four  tremendous  birds 
rose  up,  and  with  a  motion  that  was  partly  a  run 
and  partly  a  flying,  they  disappeared  into  the 
depths  of  the  forest.  To  their  intense  surprise, 
the  usually  placid  Younkins  turned  savagely  upon 
the  dog,  and  saying,  "  Drat  that  fool  dog ! "  fired 
one  barrel  loaded  with  fine  bird-shot  into  poor 
Major. 

"  Four  as  fine  wild  turkeys  as  you  ever  saw  in 


160  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

your  life ! "  he  explained,  as  if  in  apology  to  the 
boys.  "  I  was  sure  of  at  least  two  of  'em ;  and 
that  lunkhead  of  a  dog  must  needs  dash  in  and 
scare  'em  up.  It's  too  pesky  blamed  bad !  " 

The  boys  were  greatly  mortified  at  the  disaster 
that  they  had  brought  upon  Younkins  and  Major 
by  bringing  the  dog  out  with  them.  But  when 
Charlie,  as  the  eldest,  explained  that  they  had  no 
idea  that  Major  would  work  mischief,  Younkins 
said,  "Never  mind,  boys,  for  you  did  not  know 
what  was  going  on-like." 

Younkins,  ashamed,  apparently,  of  his  burst  of 
temper,  stooped  down,  and  discovering  that  Major's 
wounds  were  not  very  serious,  extracted  the  shot, 
plucked  a  few  leaves  of  some  plant  that  he  seemed 
to  know  all  about,  and  pressed  the  juice  into  the 
wounds  made  by  the  shot.  The  boys  looked  on 
with  silent  admiration.  This  man  knew  every- 
thing, they  thought.  They  had  often  marvelled 
to  see  how  easily  and  unerringly  he  found  his  way 
through  woods,  streams,  and  over  prairies ;  now  he 
showed  them  another  gift.  He  was  a  "  natural- 
born  doctor,"  as  his  wife  proudly  said  of  him. 

"  No  turkey  for  supper  to-night,"  said  Younkins, 
as  he  picked  up  his  shot-gun  and  returned  with 
the  boys  to  the  cabin.  He  was  "  right  glad,"  he 
said,  to  agree  to  go  on  a  buffalo  hunt,  if  the  rest 
of  the  party  would  like  to  go.  He  knew  there 
must  be  buffalo  off  to  the  westward.  He  went 
with  Mr.  Fuller  and  Mr.  Battles  last  year,  about 


PLAY  COMES  AFTER    WORK.  161 

this  time,  and  they  had  great  luck.  He  would 
come  over  that  evening  and  set  a  date  with  the 
other  men  for  starting  out  together. 

Elated  with  this  ready  consent  of  Younkins,  the 
lads  went  across  the  ford,  eager  to  tell  their  elders 
the  story  of  the  wild  turkeys  and  poor  Major's  ex- 
ploit. Sandy,  carrying  his  shot-gun  on  his  shoul- 
der, lingered  behind  while  the  other  two  boys  hur- 
ried up  the  trail  to  the  log-cabin.  He  fancied  that 
he  heard  a  noise  as  of  ducks  quacking,  in  the 
creek  that  emptied  into  the  Fork  just  below  the 
ford.  So,  making  his  way  softly  to  the  densely 
wooded  bank  of  the  creek,  he  parted  the  branches 
with  great  caution  and  looked  in.  What  a  sight 
it  was !  At  least  fifty  fine  black  ducks  were  swim- 
ming around,  feeding  and  quacking  sociably  to- 
gether, entirely  unconscious  of  the  wide-open  blue 
eyes  that  were  staring  at  them  from  behind  the 
covert  of  the  thicket.  Sandy  thought  them  even 
more  wonderful  and  beautiful  than  the  young 
fawn  and  his  dam  that  he  had  seen  on  the  Fort- 
Riley  trail.  For  a  moment,  fascinated  by  the  rare 
spectacle,  he  gazed  wonderingly  at  the  ducks  as 
they  swam  around,  chasing  each  other,  and  eagerly 
hunting  for  food.  It  was  but  for  a  moment,  how- 
ever. Then  he  raised  his  shot-gun,  and  taking 
aim  into  the  thickest  of  the  flock,  fired  both  barrels 
in  quick  succession.  Instantly  the  gay  clamor  of 
the  pretty  creatures  ceased,  and  the  flock  rose  with 
a  loud  whirring  of  wings,  and  wheeled  away  over 


162  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

the  tree-tops.  The  surface  of  the  water,  to  Sandy's 
excited  imagination,  seemed  to  be  fairly  covered 
with  birds,  some  dead,  and  some  struggling  with 
wounded  limbs.  The  other  two  boys,  startled  by 
the  double  report  from  Sandy's  gun,  came  scamper- 
ing down  the  trail,  just  as  the  lad,  all  excitement, 
was  stripping  off  his  clothes  to  wade  into  the  creek 
for  his  game. 

"  Ducks !  Black  ducks  !  I've  shot  a  million  of 
'em ! "  cried  the  boy,  exultingly ;  and  in  another 
instant  he  plunged  into  the  water  up  to  his  middle, 
gathering  the  ducks  by  the  legs  and  bringing 
them  to  the  bank,  where  Charlie  and  Oscar,  dis- 
creetly keeping  out  of  the  oozy  creek,  received 
them,  counting  the  birds  as  they  threw  them  on 
the  grass. 

44  Eighteen,  all  told !  "  shouted  Oscar,  when  the 
last  bird  had  been  caught,  as  it  floundered  about 
among  the  weeds,  and  brought  ashore. 

"  Eighteen  ducks  in  two  shots ! "  cried  Sandy, 
his  freckled  face  fairly  beaming  with  delight. 
44  Did  ever  anybody  see  such  luck  ?  " 

They  all  thought  that  nobody  ever  had. 

41  What's  that  on  your  leg?"  asked  Oscar,  stoop- 
ing to  pick  from  Sandy's  leg  a  long,  brown  object 
looking  like  a  flat  worm.  To  the  boys'  intense 
astonishment,  the  thing  would  not  come  off,  but 
stretched  out  several  inches  in  length,  holding  on 
by  one  end. 

Sandy  howled  with  pain.  "  It  is  something  that 
bites,"  he  cried. 


PLAT  COMES  AFTER    WORE:.  163 

"And  there's  another,  —  and  another!  Why, 
he's  covered  all  over  with  'em ! "  exclaimed  Oscar. 

Sure  enough,  the  lad's  legs,  if  not  exactly  covered, 
were  well  sprinkled  with  the  things. 

"  Scrape  'em  off  with  your  knife ! "  cried  Sandy. 

Oscar  usually  carried  a  sheath-knife  at  his  belt, 
"  more  for  the  style  of  the  thing,  than  use,"  he  ex- 
plained ;  so  with  this  he  quickly  took  off  the  repul- 
sive creatures,  which,  loosening  their  hold,  dropped 
to  the  ground  limp  and  shapeless. 

"Leeches,"  said  Charlie,  briefly,  as  he  poked  one 
of  them  over  with  a  stick.  The  mystery  was  ex- 
plained, and  wherever  one  of  them  had  been  attached 
to  the  boy's  tender  skin,  blood  flowed  freely  for  a 
few  minutes,  and  then  ceased.  Even  on  one  or 
two  of  the  birds  they  found  a  leech  adhering  to 
the  feathers  where  the  poor  thing's  blood  had  fol- 
lowed the  shot.  Picking  up  the  game,  the  two 
boys  escorted  the  elated  Sandy  to  the  cabin,  where 
his  unexpected  adventures  made  him  the  hero  of 
the  day. 

"  Couldn't  we  catch  some  of  those  leeches  and 
sell  them  to  the  doctors?"  asked  the  practical 
Oscar. 

His  father  shook  his  head.  "American  wild 
leeches  like  those  are  not  good  for  much,  my  son. 
I  don't  know  why  not ;  but  I  have  been  told  that 
only  the  imported  leeches  are  used  by  medical 
men." 

"  Well,"    said     Sandy,    tenderly    rubbing    his 


164  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

wounded  legs,  "if  imported  leeches  can  bite  any 
more  furiously  than  these  Kansas  ones  do,  I  don't 
want  any  of  them  to  tackle  me !  I  suppose  these 
were  hungry,  though,  not  having  had  a  taste  of  a 
fresh  Illinois  boy  lately.  But  they  didn't  make 
much  out  of  me,  after  all." 

Very  happy  were  those  three  boys  that  evening, 
as,  filled  with  roast  wild  duck,  they  sat  by  and 
heard  their  elders  discuss  with  Younkins  the  de- 
tails of  the  grand  buffalo  hunt  that  was  now  to  be 
organized.  Younkins  had  seen  Mr.  Fuller,  who 
had  agreed  to  make  one  of  the  party.  So  there 
would  be  four  men  and  the  three  boys  to  compose 
the  expedition.  They  were  to  take  two  horses, 
Fuller's  and  Younkins's,  to  serve  as  pack-animals, 
for  the  way  to  the  hunting-ground  might  be  long ; 
but  the  hunting  was  to  be  done  on  foot.  Younkins 
was  very  sure  that  they  would  have  no  difficulty 
in  getting  near  enough  to  shoot ;  the  animals  had 
not  been  hunted  much  in  those  parts  at  that  time, 
and  the  Indians  killed  them  on  foot  very  often.  If 
Indians  could  do  that,  why  could  not  white  men  ? 

The  next  two  days  were  occupied  in  preparations 
for  the  expedition,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  boys, 
who  recalled  with  amusement  something  of  a  simi- 
lar feeling  that  they  had  when  they  were  prepar- 
ing for  their  trip  to  Kansas,  long  ago,  away  back 
in  Dixon.  How  far  off  that  all  seemed  now ! 
Now  they  were  in  the  promised  land,  and  were 
going  out  to  hunt  for  big  game  —  buffalo !  It 
seemed  too  good  to  be  true. 


PLAY  COMES  AFTER    WORK.  165 

Bread  was  made  and  baked ;  smoked  side-meat, 
and  pepper  and  salt  packed ;  a  few  potatoes  taken, 
as  a  luxury  in  camp-life ;  blankets,  guns,  and  am- 
munition prepared;  .and  above  all,  plenty  of  coffee, 
already  browned  and  ground,  was  packed  for  use. 
It  was  a  merry  and  a  buoyant  company  that  started 
out  in  the  early  dawn  of  a  September  morning, 
having  snatched  a  hasty  breakfast,  of  which  the 
excited  boys  had  scarcely  time  to  taste.  Buffalo 
beef,  they  confidently  said,  was  their  favorite 
meat.  They  would  dine  on  buffalo  hump  that 
very  day. 

Oscar,  more  cautious  than  the  others,  asked  Youn- 
kins  if  they  were  sure  to  see  buffalo  soon. 

" Surely,"  replied  he ;  "I  was  out  to  the  bend  of 
the  Fork  just  above  the  bluffs,  last  night,  and  the 
plains  were  just  full  of  'em-  just  simply  black-like, 
as  it  were." 

"What?"  exclaimed  all  three  boys,  in  a  breath. 
"  Plains  full  of  them,  and  you  didn't  even  mention 
it !  What  a  funny  man  you  are." 

Mr.  Howell  reminded  them  that  Mr.  Younkins 
had  been  accustomed  to  see  buffalo  for  so  long 
that  he  did  not  think  it  anything  worth  mentioning 
that  he  had  seen  vast  numbers  of  the  creatures 
already.  So,  as  they  pressed  on,  the  boys  strained 
their  eyes  in  the  distance,  looking  for  buffalo. 
But  no  animals  greeted  their  sight,  as  they  passed 
over  the  long  green  swales  of  the  prairie,  mile 
after  mile,  now  rising  to  the  top  of  a  little  emi- 


166  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

nence,  and  now  sinking  into  a  shallow  valley ;  but 
occasionally  a  sneaking,  stealthy  coyote  would 
noiselessly  trot  into  view,  and  then,  after  cautiously 
surveying  them  from  a  distance,  disappear,  as 
Sandy  said,  "  as  if  he  had  sunk  into  a  hole  in  the 
ground."  It  was  in  vain  that  they  attempted  to 
get  near  enough  to  one  of  these  wary  animals  to 
warrant  a  shot.  It  is  only  by  great  good  luck  that 
anybody  ever  shoots  a  coyote,  although  in  coun- 
tries where  they  abound  every  man's  hand  is 
against  them ;  they  are  such  arrant  thieves,  as  well 
as  cowards. 

But  at  noon,  while  the  little  party  was  taking  a 
luncheon  in  the  shade  of  a  solitary  birch  that  grew 
by  the  side  of  a  little  creek,  or  runlet,  Sandy,  the 
irrepressible,  with  his  bread  and  meat  in  his  hand, 
darted  off  to  the  next  roll  of  the  prairie,  a  high 
and  swelling  hill,  in  fact,  "  to  see  what  he  could 
see."  As  soon  as  the  lad  had  reached  the  highest 
part  of  the  swale,  he  turned  around  and  swung  his 
arms  excitedly,  too  far  off  to  make  his  voice  heard. 
He  jumped  up  and  down,  whirled  his  arms,  and 
acted  altogether  like  a  young  lunatic. 

"  The  boy  sees  buffalo,"  said  Younkins,  with  a 
smile  of  calm  amusement.  He  could  hardly  un- 
derstand why  anybody  should  be  excited  over  so 
commonplace  a  matter.  But  the  other  two  lads 
were  off  like  a  shot  in  Sandy's  direction.  Reach- 
ing their  comrade,  they  found  him  in  a  state  of 
great  agitation.  "  Oh,  look  at  'em !  Look  at  'em ! 


PLAT  COMES  AFTER    WOES.  167 

Millions  on  millions !  Did  anybody  ever  see  the 
like?" 

Perhaps  Sandy's  estimate  of  the  numbers  was  a 
little  exaggerated,  but  it  really  was  a  wonderful 
sight.  The  rolls  of  the  prairie,  four  or  five  miles 
away,  were  dark  with  the  vast  and  slow-moving 
herds  that  were  passing  over,  their  general  direc- 
tion being  toward  the  spot  on  which  the  boys  were 
standing.  Now  and  again,  some  animals  strayed 
off  in  broken  parties,  but  for  the  most  part  the 
phalanx  seemed  to  be  solid,  so  solid  that  the  green 
of  the  earth  was  completely  hidden  by  the  dense 
herd. 

The  boys  stood  rooted  to  the  spot  with  the  in- 
tensity of  their  wonder  and  delight.  If  there  were 
not  millions  in  that  vast  army  of  buffalo,  there 
were  certainly  hundreds  of  thousands.  What 
would  happen  if  that  great  mob  should  suddenly 
take  a  notion  to  gallop  furiously  in  their  direction  ? 

"  You  needn't  whisper  so,"  said  Charlie,  noticing 
the  awe-struck  tones  of  the  youngsters.  "  They 
can't  hear  you,  away  off  there.  Why,  the  very 
nearest  of  the  herd  cannot  be  less  than  five  miles 
off;  and  they  would  run  from  us,  rather  than 
toward  us,  if  they  were  to  see  and  hear  us." 

"  I  asked  Younkins  if  he  ever  had  any  trouble 
with  a  buffalo  when  he  was  hunting,  and  what  do 
you  suppose  he  said  ?  "  asked  Oscar,  who  had  re- 
covered his  voice.  "  Well,  he  said  that  once  he 
was  out  on  horseback,  and  had  cornered  a  young 


168  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

buffalo  bull  in  among  some  limestone  ledges  up 
there  on  the  Upper  Fork,  and  *  the  critter  turned 
on  him  and  made  a  nasty  noise  with  his  mouth- 
like,'  so  that  he  was  glad  to  turn  and  run.  '  Nasty 
noise  with  his  mouth,'  I  suppose  was  a  sort  of  a 
snort  —  a  snort-like,  as  Younkins  would  say. 
There  come  the  rest  of  the  folks.  My!  won't 
daddy  be  provoked  that  we  didn't  go  back  and 
help  hitch  up ! " 

But  the  elders  of  the  party  had  not  forgotten 
that  they  were  once  boys  themselves,  and  when 
they  reached  the  point  on  which  the  lads  stood 
surveying  the  sight,  they  also  were  stirred  to 
enthusiasm.  The  great  herd  was  still  moving  on, 
the  dark  folds  of  the  moving  mass  undulating  like 
the  waves  of  a  sea,  as  the  buffalo  rose  and  fell 
upon  the  surface  of  the  rolling  prairie. 

As  if  the  leaders  had  spied  the  hunters,  the 
main  herd  now  swung  away  more  to  the  right,  or 
northward,  only  a  few  detached  parties  coming 
toward  the  little  group  of  hunters  that  still  watched 
them  silently  from  its  elevated  point  of  observa- 
tion. 

Younkins  surveyed  the  movement  critically  and 
then  announced  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  herd  was 
bound  for  the  waters  of  the  Republican  Fork,  to 
the  right  and  somewhat  to  the  northward  of  the 
party.  The  best  course  for  them  to  take  now 
would  be  to  try  and  cut  off  the  animals  before 
they  could  reach  the  river.  There  was  a  steep 


AFTER    WORK  COMES  PLAT.  169 

and  bluffy  bank  at  the  point  for  which  the  buffalo 
seemed  to  be  aiming;  that  would  divert  them 
further  up  stream,  and  if  the  hunters  could  only 
creep  along  in  the  low  gullies  of  the  prairie,  out  of 
the  sight  of  the  herd,  they  might  reach  the  place 
where  the  buffalo  would  cross  before  they  could 
get  there ;  for  the  herd  moved  slowly ;  an  expert 
walker  could  far  out-travel  them  in  a  direct  line. 

"  One  of  you  boys  will  have  to  stay  here  by  the 
stuff ;  the  rest  of  us  will  press  on  in  the  direction 
of  the  river  as  fast  as  may  be,"  said  Uncle  Aleck. 
The  boys  looked  at  each  other  in  dismay.  Who 
would  be  willing  to  be  left  behind  in  a  chase  so 
exciting  as  this  ?  Sandy  bravely  solved  the  puzzle. 

"  Here,  you  take  my  shot-gun,  Charlie,"  he  said. 
"It  carries  farther  than  yours;  I'll  stay  by  the 
stuff  and  the  horses ;  I'm  pretty  tired,  anyhow." 
His  father  smiled  approvingly,  but  said  nothing. 
He  knew  how  great  a  sacrifice  the  boy  was  mak- 
ing for  the  others. 

Left  alone  on  the  hill-top,  for  the  rest  of  the 
party  moved  silently  and  swiftly  away  to  the 
northward,  Sandy  felt  the  bitterness  of  disappoint- 
ment as  well  as  of  loneliness  while  he  sat  on  the 
grass  watching  with  absorbed  attention  the  mo- 
tions of  the  great  herds.  All  trace  of  his  com- 
panions was  soon  lost  as  they  passed  down  into 
the  gullies  and  ravines  that  broke  the  ground 
adjacent  to  the  Fork  to  the  westward  of  the 
stream.  Once,  indeed,  he  saw  the  figures  of  the 


170  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

hunters,  painted  dark  against  the  sky,  rise  over  a 
distant  swell  and  disappear  just  as  one  of  them 
turned  and  waved  a  signal  in  dumb  show  to  the 
solitary  watcher  on  the  hill. 

"  If  those  buffalo  should  get  stampeded,"  mused 
Sandy,  "  and  make  a  break  in  this  way,  it  would 
be  *  all  day '  with  those  horses  and  the  camp  stuff. 
I  guess  I  had  better  make  all  fast,  for  there  may 
be  a  gale  of  wind,  or  a  gale  of  buffalo,  which  is 
the  same  thing."  So  saying,  the  thoughtful  lad 
led  the  animals  down  into  the  gully  where  the 
noon  luncheon  had  been  taken,  removed  their 
packs,  tethered  them  to  the  tree,  and  then  ran 
back  to  the  hill-top  and  resumed  his  watch. 

There  was  no  change  in  the  situation  except 
that  there  were,  if  possible,  more  buffalo  moving 
over  the  distant  slopes  of  the  rolling  prairie.  The 
boy  stood  entranced  at  the  sight.  More,  more,  and 
yet  more  of  the  herds  were  slowly  moving  into 
sight  and  then  disappearing  in  the  gullies  below. 
The  dark  brown  folds  seemed  to  envelop  the  face 
of  the  earth.  Sandy  wondered  where  so  many 
creatures  could  find  pasturage.  Their  bodies  ap- 
peared to  cover  the  hills  and  valleys,  so  that  there 
could  not  be  room  left  for  grazing.  "They've 
got  such  big  feet,"  he  soliloquized  aloud,  "that  I 
should  think  that  the  ground  would  be  all  pawed 
up  where  they  have  travelled."  In  the  ecstasy  of 
his  admiration,  he  walked  to-  and  fro  on  the  hill- 
top, talking  to  himself,  as  was  his  wont. 


AFTER    WORK  COMES  PLAT.  171 

"  I  wonder  if  the  other  fellows  can  see  them  as 
I  do  ?  "  he  asked.  "  I  don't  believe,  after  all,  that 
it  is  one-half  so  entertaining  for  them  as  it  is  for 
me.  Oh,  I  just  wish  the  folks  at  home  could  be 
here  now,  and  see  this  sight.  It  beats  all  nature, 
as  Father  Dixon  used  to  say.  And  to  think  that 
there  are  thousands  of  people  in  big  cities  who 
don't  have  meat  enough  to  eat.  And  all  this 
buffalo  meat  running  wild ! "  The  boy  laughed  to 
himself  at  the  comicality  of  the  thought.  "  Fresh 
beef  running  wild ! " 

The  faint  report  of  a  gun  fired  afar  off  now 
reached  his  ear  and  he  saw  a  blue  puff  of  smoke 
rising  from  the  crest  of  a  timber-bordered  hill  far 
away.  The  herd  in  that  direction  seemed  to 
swerve  somewhat  and  scatter,  but,  to  his  intense 
surprise,  there  was  no  hurry  in  their  movements ; 
the  brown  and  black  folds  of  the  great  mass  of 
animals  still  slowly  and  sluggishly  spread  out  and 
flowed  like  the  tides  of  the  sea,  enveloping  every- 
thing. Suddenly  there  was  another  report,  then 
another,  and  another.  Three  shots  in  quick  suc- 
cession. 

"  Now  they  are  getting  in  their  work !  "  shouted 
the  boy,  fairly  dancing  up  and  down  in  his  excite- 
ment. "  Oh,  I  wish  I  was  there  instead  of  here 
looking  on ! " 

Now  the  herds  wavered  for  a  moment,  then  their 
general  direction  was  changed  from  the  northward 
to  the  eastward.  Then  there  was  a  swift  and  sud- 


VT2  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

den  movement  of  the  whole  mass,  and  the  vast 
dark  stream  flowed  in  a  direction  parallel  with  the 
Fork  instead  of  toward  it,  as  heretofore. 

"  They  are  coming  this  way ! "  shouted  Sandy, 
to  the  empty,  silent  air  around  him.  "  I'll  get  a 
shot  at  'em  yet ! "  Then,  suddenly  recollecting 
that  his  gun  had  been  exchanged  for  his  brother's, 
he  added,  "  And  Charlie's  gun  is  no  good ! " 

In  truth,  the  herd  was  now  bound  straight  for 
the  hill  on  which  the  boy  maintained  his  solitary 
watch.  Swiftly  running  down  to  the  gully  in 
which  the  horses  were  tethered,  Sandy  got  out 
his  brother's  gun  and  carefully  examined  the 
caps  and  the  load.  They  had  run  some  heavy 
slugs  of  lead  in  a  rude  mould  which  they  had 
made,  the  slug  being  just  the  size  of  the  barrel 
of  the  shotr-gun.  One  barrel  was  loaded  with  a 
heavy  charge  of  buckshot,  and  the  other  with  a 
slug.  The  latter  was  an  experiment,  and  a  big 
slug  like  that  could  not  be  expected  to  carry 
very  far;  it  might,  however,  do  much  damage  at 
short  range. 

Running  up  to  the  head  of  the  gully,  which  was 
in  the  nature  of  a  shallow  ravine  draining  the  hill 
above,  Sandy  emerged  on  the  highest  point  of 
land,  a  few  hundred  feet  to  the  right  and  north  of 
his  former  post  of  observation.  The  herd  was  in 
full  drive  directly  toward  him.  Suppose  they 
should  come  driving  down  over  the  hills  where  he 
was !  They  would  sweep  down  into  the  gully, 


AFTER    WORK  COMES  PLAT.  173 

stampede  the  horses,  and  trample  all  the  camp  stuff 
into  bits  !  The  boy  fairly  shook  with  excitement 
as  the  idea  struck  him.  On  they  came,  the  solid 
ground  shaking  under  their  thundering  tread. 

"  I  must  try  to  head  'em  off,"  said  the  boy  to 
himself.  "  The  least  I  can  do  is  to  scare  them  a 
good  bit,  and  then  they'll  split  in  two  and  the  herd 
will  divide  right  here.  But  I  must  get  a  shot  at 
one,  or  the  other  fellows  will  laugh  at  me." 

The  rushing  herd  was  headed  right  for  the  spot 
where  Saniy  stood,  spreading  out  to  the  left  and 
right,  but  with  the  centre  of  the  phalanx  steering 
in  a  bee-line  for  the  lad.  Thoroughly  alarmed 
now,  Sandy  looked  around,  and  perceiving  a  sharp 
outcropping  of  the  underlying  stratum  of  lime- 
stone at  the  head  of  the  little  ravine,  he  resolved 
to  shelter  himself  behind  that,  in  case  the  buffalo 
should  continue  to  come  that  way.  Notwithstand- 
ing his  excitement,  the  lad  did  not  fail  to  note 
two  discharges,  one  after  the  other,  in  the  distance, 
showing  that  his  friends  were  still  keeping  up  a 
fusillade  against  the  flying  herds. 

At  the  second  shot,  Sandy  thought  that  the 
masses  in  the  rear  swung  off  more  to  the  south- 
ward, as  if  panic-stricken  by  the  firing,  but  the 
advance  guard  still  maintained  a  straight  line  for 
him.  There  was  no  escape  from  it  now,  and  Sandy 
looked  down  at  the  two  horses  tethered  in  the 
ravine  below,  peacefully  grazing  the  short,  thick 
grass,  unconscious  of  the  flood  of  buffalo  undulat- 


174  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

ing  over  the  prairie  above  them,  and  soon  to  swoop 
down  over  the  hill-side  where  they  were.  In  an- 
other instant  the  lad  could  see  the  tossing,  shaggy 
maues  of  the  leaders  of  the  herd,  and  could  even 
distinguish  the  redness  of  their  eyes  as  they  swept 
up  the  incline,  at  the  head  of  which  he  stood.  He 
hastily  dodged  behind  the  crag  of  rock ;  it  was  a 
small  affair,  hardly  higher  than  his  head,  but  wide 
enough,  he  thought,  to  divide  the  herd  when  they 
came  to  it.  So  he  ducked  behind  it  and  waited 
for  coming  events. 

Sandy  was  right.  Just  beyond  the  rock  behind 
which  he  was  crouched,  the  ground  fell  off  rapidly 
and  left  a  stiff  slope,  up  which  even  a  stampeded 
buffalo  would  hardly  climb.  The  ground  trembled 
as  the  vast  army  of  living  creatures  came  tumbling 
and  thundering  over  the  prairie.  Sandy,  stooping 
behind  the  outcropping,  also  trembled,  partly  with 
excitement  and  partly  with  fear.  If  the  buffalo 
were  to  plunge  over  the  very  small  barrier  between 
him  and  them,  his  fate  was  sealed.  For  an  instant 
his  heart  stood  still.  It  was  but  for  an  instant, 
for,  before  he  could  draw  a  long  breath,  the  herd 
parted  on  the  two  sides  of  the  little  crag.  The 
divided  stream  poured  down  on  both  sides  of  him, 
a  tumultuous,  broken,  and  disorderly  torrent  of 
animals,  making  no  sound  except  for  the  ceaseless 
beat  of  their  tremendous  hoofs.  Sandy's  eyes 
swam  with  the  bewildering  motion  of  the  living 
stream.  For  a  brief  space  he  saw  nothing  but  a 


AFTER    WORK  COMES  PLAY.  175 

confused  mass  of  heads,  backs,  and  horns,  hundreds 
of  thousands  flowing  tumultuously  past.  Gradu- 
ally his  sense  of  security  came  back  to  him,  and, 
exulting  in  his  safety,  he  raised  his  gun,  and  mut- 
tering under  his  breath,  "Right  behind  the  fore- 
shoulder-like,  Younkins  said,"  he  took  steady  aim 
and  fired.  A  young  buffalo  bull  tumbled  headlong 
down  the  ravine.  In  their  mad  haste,  a  number 
of  the  animals  fell  over  him,  pell-mell,  but,  recov- 
ering themselves  with  incredible  swiftness,  they 
skipped  to  their  feet,  and  were  speedily  on  their 
way  down  the  hill.  Sandy  watched,  with  a  beating 
heart,  the  young  bull  as  he  fell  heels  over  head 
two  or  three  times  before  he  could  rally ;  the  poor 
creature  got  upon  his  feet,  fell  again,  and  while 
the  tender-hearted  boy  hesitated  whether  to  fire 
the  second  barrel  or  not,  finally  fell  over  on  his 
side  helpless. 

Meanwhile  the  ranks  of  buffalo  coming  behind 
swerved  from  the  fallen  animal  to  the  left  and 
right,  as  if  by  instinct,  leaving  an  open  space  all 
around  the  point  where  the  boy  stood  gazing  at 
his  fallen  game.  He  fired,  almost  at  random,  at 
the  nearest  of  the  flying  buffalo ;  but  the  buckshot 
whistled  hurtlessly  among  the  herd,  and  Sandy 
thought  to  himself  that  it  was  downright  cruelty 
to  shoot  among  them,  for  the  scattering  shot  would 
only  wound  without  killing  the  animals. 

It  was  safe  now  for  Sandy  to  emerge  from  his 
place  of  concealment,  and,  standing  on  the  rocky 


176  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

point  behind  which  he  had  been  hidden,  he  gazed 
to  the  west  and  north.  The  tumbling  masses  of 
buffalo  were  scattered  far  apart.  Here  and  there 
he  could  see  wide  stretches  of  prairie,  no  longer 
green,  but  trampled  into  a  dull  brown  by  the  tread 
of  myriads  of  hurrying  feet ;  and  far  to  the  north 
the  land  was  clear,  as  if  the  main  herd  had  passed 
down  to  the  southward.  Scattered  bands  still 
hurried  along  above  him,  here  and  there,  nearer 
to  the  Fork,  but  the  main  herd  had  gone  on  in  the 
general  direction  of  the  settlers'  home. 

"  What  if  they  have  gone  down  to  our  cabin  ?  " 
he  muttered  aloud.  "It's  all  up  with  any  corn- 
field that  they  run  across.  But,  then,  they  must 
have  kept  too  far  to  the  south  to  get  anywhere 
near  our  claim."  And  the  lad  consoled  himself 
with  this  reflection. 

But  his  game  was  more  engrossing  of  his  atten- 
tion just  now  than  anything  else.  He  had  been 
taught  that  an  animal  should  not  bleed  to  death 
through  a  gunshot  wound.  His  big  leaden  slug 
had  gone  directly  through  the  buffalo's  vitals  some- 
where, for  it  was  now  quite  dead.  Sandy  stood 
beside  the  noble  beast  with  a  strange  elation,  look- 
ing at  it  before  he  could  make  up  his  mind  to  cut 
its  throat  and  let  out  the  blood.  It  was  a  young 
bull  buffalo  that  lay  before  him,  the  short,  sharp 
horns  ploughed  into  the  ground,  and  the  massive 
form,  so  lately  bounding  over  the  rolling  prairie, 
forever  still.  To  Sandy  it  all  seemed  like  a  dream, 


1    a 
..    K 


a  M 

^I 


AFTER    WORK  COMES  PLAT.  177 

it  had  come  and  gone  so  quickly.  His  heart  mis- 
gave him  as  he  looked,  for  Sandy  had  a  tender 
heart.  Then  he  gently  touched  the  animal  with 
the  toe  of  his  boot  and  cried,  "All  by  my  own 
self!" 

"  Well  done,  Sandy !  "  The  boy  started,  turned, 
and  beheld  his  cousin  Oscar  gazing  open-mouthed 
at  the  spectacle.  "  And  did  you  shoot  him  all  by 
your  very  own  self  ?  What  with  ?  Charlie's  gun  ?" 
The  lad  poured  forth  a  torrent  of  questions,  and 
Sandy  proudly  answered  them  all  with,  "  That  is 
what  I  did." 

As  the  two  boys  hung  with  delight  over  the 
prostrate  beast,  Oscar  told  the  tale  of  disappoint- 
ment that  the  others  had  to  relate.  They  had 
gone  up  the  ravines  that  skirted  the  Fork,  prowl- 
ing on  their  hands  and  knees ;  but  the  watchers  of 
the  herd  were  too  wary  to  let  the  hunters  get  near 
enough  for  a  good  shot.  They  had  fired  several 
times,  but  had  brought  down  nothing.  Sandy 
had  heard  the  shots  ?  Yes,  Sandy  had  heard,  and 
had  hoped  that  somebody  was  having  great  sport. 
After  all,  he  thought,  as  he  looked  at  the  fallen 
monarch  of  the  prairie,  it  was  rather  cruel  business. 
Oscar  did  not  think  so;  he  wished  he  had  had 
such  luck. 

The  rest  of  the  party  now  came  up,  one  after 
another,  and  all  gave  a  whoop  of  astonishment 
and  delight  at  Sandy's  great  success  as  soon  as 
they  saw  his  noble  quarry. 


178  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

The  sun  was  now  low  in  the  west ;  here  was  a 
good  place  for  camping ;  a  little  brush  would  do 
for  firing,  and  water  was  close  at  hand.  So  the 
tired  hunters,  after  a  brief  rest,  while  they  lay  on 
the  trampled  grass  and  recounted  the  doings  of 
the  day,  went  to  work  at  the  game.  The  animal 
was  dressed,  and  a  few  choice  pieces  were  hung  on 
the  tree  to  cool  for  their  supper.  It  was  dark 
when  they  gathered  around  their  cheerful  fire,  as 
the  cool  autumnal  evening  came  on,  and  cooked 
and  ate  with  infinite  zest  their  first  buffalo-meat. 
Boys  who  have  never  been  hungry  with  the  hun- 
ger of  a  long  tramp  over  the  prairies,  hungry  for 
their  first  taste  of  big  game  of  their  own  shooting, 
cannot  possibly  understand  how  good  to  the  Boy 
Settlers  was  their  supper  on  the  wind-swept  slopes 
of  the  Kansas  plains. 

Wrapping  themselves  as  best  they  could  in 
the  blankets  and  buffalo-robes  brought  from  home, 
the  party  lay  down  in  the  nooks  and  corners  of  the 
ravine,  first  securing  the  buffalo-meat  on  the  tree 
that  made  their  camp. 

"What,  for  goodness'  sake,  is  that?"  asked 
Charlie,  querulously,  as  he  was  roused  out  of  his 
sleep  by  a  dismal  cry  not  far  away  in  the  darkness. 

"Wolves,"  said  Younkins,  curtly,  as  he  raised 
himself  on  one  elbow  to  listen.  "  The  pesky  crit- 
ters have  smelt  blood ;  they  would  smell  it  if  they 
were  twenty  miles  off,  I  do  believe,  and  they  are 
gathering  round  as  they  scent  the  carcass." 


AFTER   WORK  COMES  PLAT.  179 

By  this,  all  of  the  party  were  awake  except 
Sandy,  who,  worn  out  with  excitement,  perhaps, 
slept  on  through  all  the  fearful  din.  The  mean 
little  prairie-wolves  gathered,  and  barked,  and 
snarled,  in  the  distance.  Nearer,  the  big  wolves 
howled  like  great  dogs,  their  long  howl  occa- 
sionally breaking  into  a  bark;  and  farther  and 
farther  off,  away  in  the  extremest  distance,  they 
could  hear  other  wolves,  whose  hollow-sounding 
cry  seemed  like  an  echo  of  their  more  fortunate 
brethren,  nearer  the  game.  A  party  of  the  creat- 
ures were  busy  at  the  offal  from  the  slain  buffalo, 
just  without  the  range  of  the  firelight,  for  the 
camp-fire  had  been  kept  alight.  Into  the  strug- 
gling, snarling  group  Younkins  discharged  his 
rifle.  There  was  a  sharp  yell  of  pain,  a  confused 
patter  of  hurrying  feet,  and  in  an  instant  all  was 
still. 

Sandy  started  up.  "Who's  shot  another  buf- 
falo?" he  asked,  as  if  struggling  with  a  dream. 
The  others  laughed,  and  Charlie  explained  what 
had  been  going  on,  and  the  tired  boy  lay  down  to 
sleep  again.  But  that  was  not  a  restful  night  for 
any  of  the  campers.  The  wolves  renewed  their 
howling.  The  hunters  were  able  to  snatch  only  a 
few  breaths  of  sleep  from  time  to  time,  in  moments 
when  the  dismal  ululation  of  the  wolf-chorus  sub- 
sided. The  sun  rose,  flooding  the  rolling  prairies 
with  a  wealth  of  golden  sunshine.  The  weary 
campers  looked  over  the  expanse  around  them,  but . 


180  THE  BOY  SETTLEES. 

not  a  remnant  of  the  rejected  remains  of  the  buf- 
falo was  to  be  seen ;  and  in  all  the  landscape  about, 
no  sign  of  any  living  thing  was  in  sight,  save 
where  some  early-rising  jack-rabbit  scudded  over 
the  torn  sod,  hunting  for  his  breakfast. 

Fresh  air,  bright  sunlight,  and  a  dip  in  a  cool 
stream  are  the  best  correctives  for  a  head  heavy 
with  want  of  sleep ;  and  the  hunters,  refreshed  by 
these  and  a  pot  of  strong  and  steaming  coffee,  were 
soon  ready  for  another  day's  sport 


A   GEE  AT  DISASTER.  lol 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  GKEAT  DISASTER. 

THE  hunters  had  better  success  on  their  second 
day's  search  for  buffalo ;  for  they  not  only  found 
the  animals,  but  they  killed  three.  The  first  game 
of  the  day  was  brought  down  by  Younkins,  who 
was  the  "guide,  philosopher,  and  friend"  of  the 
party,  and  Oscar,  the  youngest  of  them  all,  slew 
the  second.  The  honor  of  bringing  down  the  third 
and  last  was  Uncle  Aleck's.  When  he  had  killed 
his  game,  he  was  anxious  to  get  home  as  soon  as 
possible,  somewhat  to  the  amusement  of  the  others, 
who  rallied  him  on  his  selfishness.  They  hinted 
that  he  would  not  be  so  ready  to  go  home,  if  he  yet 
had  his  buffalo  to  kill,  as  had  some  of  the  others. 

"  I'm  worried  about  the  crop,  to  tell  the  truth," 
said  Mr.  Howell.  "  If  that  herd  of  buffalo  swept 
down  on  our  claim,  there's  precious  little  corn  left 
there  now ;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  they  went  in 
that  direction." 

"  If  that's  the  case,"  said  the  easy-going  Youn- 
kins, "  what's  the  use  of  going  home  ?  If  die  corn 
is  gone,  you  can't  get  it  back  by  looking  at  the 
place  where  it  was." 


182  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

They  laughed  at  this  cool  and  practical  way  of 
looking  at  things,  and  Uncle  Aleck  was  naif 
ashamed  to  admit  he  wanted  to  be  rid  of  his  pres- 
ent suspense,  and  could  not  be  satisfied  until  he 
had  settled  in  his  mind  all  that  he  dreaded  and 
feared. 

It  was  a  long  and  wearisome  tramp  homeward. 
But  they  had  been  more  successful  than  they  had 
hoped  or  expected,  and  the  way  did  not  seem  so 
long  as  it  would  if  they  had  been  empty-handed. 
The  choicest  parts  of  their  game  had  been  carefully 
cooled  by  hanging  in  the  dry  Kansas  wind,  over 
night,  and  were  now  loaded  upon  the  pack-animals. 
There  was  enough  and  more  than  enough  for  each 
of  the  three  families  represented  in  the  party ;  and 
they  had  enjoyed  many  a  savory  repast  of  buffalo- 
meat  cooked  hunter-fashion  before  an  open  camp- 
fire,  while  their  expedition  lasted.  So  they  hailed 
with  pleasure  the  crooked  line  of  bluffs  that  marks 
the  big  bend  of  the  Republican  Fork  near  which 
the  Whittier  cabin  was  built.  Here  and  there  they 
had  crossed  the  trail,  broad  and  well  pounded,  of 
the  great  herd  that  had  been  stampeded  on  the  first 
day  of  their  hunt.  But  for  the  most  part  the  track 
of  the  animal  multitude  bore  off  more  to  the  south, 
and  the  hunters  soon  forgot  their  apprehensions 
of  danger  to  the  corn-fields  left  unfenced  on  their 
claim. 

It  was  sunset  when  the  weary  pilgrims  reached 
the  bluff  that  overlooked  the  Younkins  cabin 


A   GREAT  DISASTER.  183 

where  the  Dixon  party  temporarily  dwelt.  The 
red  light  of  the  sun  deluged  with  splendor  the 
waving  grass  of  the  prairie  below  them,  and  jack- 
rabbits  scurrying  hither  and  yon  were  the  only 
signs  of  life  in  the  peaceful  picture.  Tired  as  he 
was,  Oscar  could  not  resist  taking  a  shot  at  one  of 
the  flying  creatures ;  but  before  he  could  raise  his 
gun  to  his  shoulder,  the  long-legged,  long-eared 
rabbit  was  out  of  range.  Running  briskly  for  a 
little  distance,  it  squatted  in  the  tall  grass.  Piqued 
at  this,  Oscar  stealthily  followed  on  the  creature's 
trail.  "  It  will  make  a  nice  change  from  so  much 
buffalo-meat,"  said  the  lad  to  himself,  "and  if  I 
get  him  into  the  corn-field,  he  can't  hide  so  easily." 
He  saw  Jack's  long  ears  waving  against  the  sky 
on  the  next  rise  of  ground,  as  he  muttered  this  to 
himself,  and  he  pressed  forward,  resolved  on  one 
parting  shot.  He  mounted  the  roll  of  the  prairie, 
and  before  him  lay  the  corn-field.  It  was  what 
had  been  a  corn-field !  Where  had  stood,  on  the 
morning  of  their  departure,  a  glorious  field  of  gold 
and  green,  the  blades  waving  in  the  breeze  like 
banners,  was  now  a  mass  of  ruin.  The  tumultuous 
drove  had  plunged  down  over  the  ridge  above  the 
field,  and  had  fled,  in  one  broad  swath  of  destruc- 
tion, straight  over  every  foot  of  the  field,  their 
trail  leaving  a  brown  and  torn  surface  on  the  earth, 
wide  on  both  sides  of  the  plantation.  Scarcely  a 
trace  of  greenness  was  left  where  once  the  corn- 
field had  been.  Here  and  there,  ears  of  grain, 


18*  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

broken  and  trampled  into  the  torn  earth,  hinted 
what  had  been;  but  for  the  most  part  hillock, 
stalk,  corn-blade,  vine,  and  melon  were  all  crushed 
into  an  indistinguishable  confusion,  muddy  and 
wrecked. 

Oscar  felt  a  shudder  pass  down  his  back,  and 
his  knees  well-nigh  gave  way  under  him  as  he 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  ruin  that  had  been  wrought. 
Tears  were  in  his  eyes,  and,  unable  to  raise  a  shout, 
he  turned  and  wildly  waved  his  hands  to  the  party, 
who  had  just  then  reached  the  door  of  the  cabin. 
His  Uncle  Aleck  had  been  watching  the  lad,  and 
as  he  saw  him  turn  he  exclaimed,  "  Oscar  has 
found  the  buffalo  trail  over  the  corn-field ! " 

The  whole  party  moved  quickly  in  the  direction 
of  the  plantation.  When  they  reached  the  rise  of 
ground  overlooking  the  field,  Oscar,  still  unable  to 
speak,  turned  and  looked  at  his  father  with  a  face 
of  grief.  Uncle  Aleck,  gazing  on  the  wreck  and 
ruin,  said  only,  "  A  whole  summer's  work  gone ! " 

"  A  dearly  bought  buffalo-hunt ! "  remarked 
Younkins. 

"  That's  so,  neighbor,"  added  Mr.  Bryant,  with 
the  grimmest  sort  of  a  smile ;  and  then  the  men 
fell  to  talking  calmly  of  the  wonderful  amount  of 
mischief  that  a  drove  of  buffalo  could  do  in  a  few 
minutes,  even  seconds,  of  time.  Evidently,  the 
animals  had  not  stopped  to  snatch  a  bite  by  the 
way.  They  had  not  tarried  an  instant  in  their 
wild  course.  Down  the  slope  of  the  fields  they 


A   GREAT  DISASTER.  185 

had  hurried  in  a  mad  rush,  plunged  into  the  woody 
creek  below,  and,  leaving  the  underbrush  and 
vines  broken  and  flattened  as  if  a  tornado  had 
passed  through  the  land,  had  thundered  away 
across  the  flat  floor  of  the  bottom-land  on  the 
further  side  of  the  creek.  A  broad  brown  track 
behind  them  showed  that  they  had  then  fled  into 
the  dim  distance  of  the  lands  of  the  Chapman's 
Creek  region. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done,  and  not  much  to 
be  said.  So,  parting  with  their  kindly  and  sym- 
pathizing neighbors,  the  party  went  sorrowfully 
home. 

"  Well,"  said  Uncle  Aleck,  as  soon  as  they  were 
alone  together,  "I  am  awful  sorry  that  we  have 
lost  the  corn ;  but  I  am  not  so  sure  that  it  is  so 
very  great  a  loss,  after  all." 

The  boys  looked  at  him  with  amazement,  and 
Sandy  said,  — 

"  Why,  daddy,  it's  the  loss  of  a  whole  summer ; 
isn't  it  ?  What  are  we  going  to  live  on  this  whole 
winter  that's  coming,  now  that  we  have  no  corn 
to  sell?" 

"  There's  no  market  for  free-State  corn  in  these 
parts,  Sandy,"  replied  his  father ;  and,  seeing  the 
look  of  inquiry  on  the  lad's  face,  he  explained: 
"  Mr.  Fuller  tells  us  that  the  officer  at  the  post, 
the  quartermaster  at  Fort  Riley  who  buys  for  the 
Government,  will  buy  nc  grain  from  free-State 
men.  Several  from  the  Smoky  Hill  and  from 


186  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

Chapman's  have  been  down  there  to  find  a  market, 
and  they  all  say  the  same  thing.  The  sutler  at 
the  post,  Sandy's  friend,  told  Mr.  Fuller  that  it 
was  no  use  for  any  free-State  man  to  come  there 
with  anything  to  sell  to  the  Government,  at  any 
price.  And  there  is  no  other  good  market  nearer 
than  the  Missouri,  you  all  know  that,  —  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  away." 

"  Well,  I  call  that  confoundedly  mean ! "  cried 
Charlie,  with  fiery  indignation.  "  Do  you  suppose, 
father,  that  they  have  from  Washington  any  such 
instructions  to  discriminate  against  us  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  say  as  to  that,  Charlie,"  replied  his 
father;  "I  only  tell  you  what  the  other  settlers 
report ;  and  it  sounds  reasonable.  That  is  why 
the  ruin  of  the  corn-field  is  not  so  great  a  misfor- 
tune as  it  might  have  been." 


THE  WOLF  AT   THE  DOOR.  187 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  WOLF  AT  THE  DOOR. 

UNCLE  ALECK  and  Mr.  Bryant  had  gone  over 
to  Chapman's  Creek  to  make  inquiries  about  the 
prospect  of  obtaining  corn  for  their  cattle  through 
the  coming  winter,  as  the  failure  of  their  own  crop 
had  made  that  the  next  thing  to  be  considered. 
The  three  boys  were  over  at  the  Younkins  cabin 
in  quest  of  news  from  up  the  river,  where,  it  was 
said,  a  party  of  California  emigrants  had  been  fired 
upon  by  the  Indians.  They  found  that  the  party 
attacked  was  one  coming  from  California,  not 
migrating  thither.  It  brought  the  Indian  frontiei 
very  near  the  boys  to  see  the  shot-riddled  wagons, 
left  at  Younkins's  by  the  travellers.  The  Chey- 
ennes  had  shot  into  the  party  and  had  killed  four 
and  wounded  two,  at  a  point  known  as  Buffalo 
Creek,  some  one  hundred  miles  or  so  up  the  Re- 
publican Fork.  It  was  a  daring  piece  of  effrontery, 
as  there  were  two  military  posts  not  very  far  away, 
Fort  Kearney  above  and  Fort  Riley  below. 

"  But  they  are  far  enough  away  by  this  time," 
said  Younkins,  with  some  bitterness.  "  Those 
military  posts  are  good  for  nothin'  but  to  run  to 


^88  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

in  case  of  trouble.  No  soldiers  can  get  out  into 
the  plains  from  any  of  them  quick  enough  to  catch 
the  slowest  Indian  of  the  lot." 

Charlie  was  unwilling  to  disagree  with  anything 
that  Younkins  said,  for  he  had  the  highest  respect 
for  the  opinions  of  this  experienced  old  plainsman. 
But  he  couldn't  help  reminding  him  that  it  would 
take  a  very  big  army  to  follow  up  every  stray 
band  of  Indians,  provided  any  of  the  tribes  should 
take  a  notion  to  go  on  the  warpath. 

"Just  about  this  time,  though,  the  men  that 
were  stationed  at  Fort  Riley  are  all  down  at 
Lawrence  to  keep  the  free-State  people  from 
sweeping  the  streets  with  free-State  brooms,  or 
something  that-a-way,"  said  Younkins,  determined 
to  have  his  gibe  at  the  useless  soldiery,  as  he 
seemed  to  think  them.  Oscar  was  interested  at 
once.  Anything  that  related  to  the  politics  of 
Kansas  the  boy  listened  to  greedily. 

"It's  something  like  this,"  explained  Younkins. 
"You  see  the  free-State  men  have  got  a  govern- 
ment there  at  Lawrence  which  is  lawful  under  the 
Topeka  Legislatur',  as  it  were.  The  border-State 
men  have  got  a  city  government  under  the  Le- 
compton  Legislatur' ;  and  so  the  two  are  quarrel- 
ling to  see  which  shall  govern  the  city ;  'tisn't 
much  of  a  city,  either." 

"  But  what  have  the  troops  from  Fort  Riley  to 
do  with  it?  I  don't  see  that  yet,"  said  Oscar, 
with  some  heat. 


THE   WOLF  AT  THE  DOOR.  189 

"  Well,"  said  Younkins,  "  I  am  a  poor  hand  at 
politics ;  but  the  way  I  understand  it  is  that  the 
Washington  Government  is  in  favor  of  the  border- 
State  fellows,  and  so  the  troops  have  been  sent 
down  to  stand  by  the  mayor  that  belongs  to  the 
Lecompton  fellows.  Leastways,  that  is  the  way 
the  sutler  down  to  the  post  put  it  to  me  when  I 
was  down  there  with  the  folks  that  were  fired  on 
up  to  Buffalo  Creek ;  I  talked  with  him  about  it 
yesterday.  That's  why  I  said  they  were  at  Law- 
rence to  prevent  the  streets  being  swept  by  free- 
State  brooms.  That  is  the  sutler's  joke.  See  ?  " 

"That's  what  I  call  outrageous,"  cried  Oscar, 
his  eyes  snapping  with  excitement.  "  Here's  a 
people  up  here  on  the  frontier  being  massacred  by 
Indians,  while  the  Government  troops  are  down  at 
Lawrence  in  a  political  quarrel ! " 

The  boys  were  so  excited  over  this  state  of 
things  that  they  paid  very  little  attention  to  any- 
thing else  while  on  their  way  back  to  the  cabin, 
full  of  the  news  of  the  day.  Usually,  there  was 
not  much  news  to  discuss  on  the  Fork. 

"  What's  that  by  the  cabin-door  ?  "  said  Sandy, 
falling  back  as  he  looked  up  the  trail  and  beheld 
a  tall  white,  or  light  gray,  animal  smelling  around 
the  door-step  of  the  cabin,  only  a  half-mile  away. 
It  seemed  to  be  about  as  large  as  a  full-grown 
calf,  and  it  moved  stealthily  about,  and  yet  with  a 
certain  unconcern,  as  if  not  used  to  being  scared 
easily. 


190  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"  It's  a  wolf ! "  cried  Oscar.  "  The  Sunday  that 
Uncle  Aleck  and  I  saw  one  from  the  bluff  yonder, 
he  was  just  like  that.  Hush,  Sandy,  don't  talk  so 
loud,  or  you'll  frighten  him  off  before  we  can  get 
a  crack  at  him.  Let's  go  up  the  trail  by  the 
ravine,  and  perhaps  we  can  get  a  shot  before  he 
sees  us." 

It  was  seldom  that  the  boys  stirred  abroad  with- 
out firearms  of  some  sort.  This  time  they  had  a 
shot-gun  and  a  rifle  with  them,  and,  examining 
the  weapons  as  they  went,  they  ran  down  into  a 
dry  gully,  to  follow  which  would  bring  them  un- 
perceived  almost  as  directly  to  the  cabin  as  by  the 
regular  trail.  As  noiselessly  as  possible,  the  boys 
ran  up  the  gully  trail,  their  hearts  beating  high 
with  expectation.  It  would  be  a  big  feather  in 
their  caps  if  they  could  only  have  a  gray  wolf's 
skin  to  show  their  elders  on  their  return  from 
Chapman's. 

"  You  go  round  the  upper  side  of  the  house  with 
your  rifle,  Oscar,  and  I'll  go  round  the  south  side 
with  the  shot-gun,"  was  Charlie's  advice  to  his 
cousin  when  they  had  reached  the  spring  at  the 
head  of  the  gully,  back  of  the  log-cabin.  With 
the  utmost  caution,  the  two  boys  crept  around  op- 
posite corners  of  the  house,  each  hoping  he  would 
be  lucky  enough  to  secure  the  first  shot.  Sandy 
remained  behind,  waiting  with  suppressed  excite- 
ment for  the  shot.  Instead  of  the  report  of  a  fire- 
arm, he  heard  a  peal  of  laughter  from  both  boys. 


THE   WOLF  AT  THE  DOOR.  191 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  he  cried,  rushing  from  his  place 
of  concealment.  "  What's  the  great  joke  ?  " 

"  Nothing,"  said  Oscar,  laughing  heartily,  "  only 
that  as  I  was  stealing  around  the  corner  here  by 
the  corral,  Charlie  was  tiptoeing  round  the  other 
corner  with  his  eyes  bulging  out  of  his  head  as  if 
he  expected  to  see  that  wolf." 

"  Yes,"  laughed  Charlie, "  and  if  Oscar  had  been 
a  little  quicker,  he  would  have  fired  at  me.  He 
had  his  gun  aimed  right  straight  ahead  as  he  came 
around  the  corner  of  the  cabin." 

"And  that  wolf  is  probably  miles  and  miles 
away  from  here  by  this  time,  while  you  two  fellows 
were  sneaking  around  to  find  him.  Just  as  if  he 
was  going  to  wait  here  for  you  ! "  It  was  Sandy's 
turn  to  laugh,  then. 

The  boys  examined  the  tracks  left  in  the  soft 
loam  of  the  garden  by  the  strange  animal,  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  must  have  been  a 
very  large  wolf,  for  its  footsteps  were  deep  as  if  it 
were  a  heavy  creature,  and  their  size  was  larger 
than  that  of  any  wolf-tracks  they  had  ever  seen. 

When  the  elders  heard  the  story  on  their  arrival 
from  Chapman's,  that  evening,  Uncle  Aleck  re- 
marked with  some  grimness,  "So  the  wolf  is  at 
the  door  at  last,  boys."  The  lads  by  this  under- 
stood that  poverty  could  not  be  far  off ;  but  they 
could  not  comprehend  that  poverty  could  affect 
them  in  a  land  where  so  much  to  live  upon  was 
running  wild,  so  to  speak. 


192  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"Who  is  this  that  rides  so  fast?"  queried 
Charlie,  a  day  or  two  after  the  wolf  adventure,  as 
he  saw  a  stranger  riding  up  the  trail  from  the  ford. 
It  was  very  seldom  that  any  visitor,  except  ths 
good  Younkins,  crossed  their  ford.  And  Younkins 
always  came  over  on  foot. 

Here  was  a  horseman  who  rode  as  if  in  haste. 
The  unaccustomed  sight  drew  all  hands  around 
the  cabin  to  await  the  coming  of  the  stranger,  who 
rode  as  if  he  were  on  some  important  errand  bent. 
It  was  Battles.  His  errand  was  indeed  momen- 
tous. A  corporal  from  the  post  had  come  to  his 
claim,  late  in  the  night  before,  bidding  him  warn 
all  the  settlers  on  the  Fork  that  the  Cheyennes 
were  coming  down  the  Smoky  Hill,  plundering, 
burning,  and  slaying  the  settlers.  Thirteen  white 
people  had  been  killed  in  the  Smoky  Hill  country, 
and  the  savages  were  evidently  making  their  way 
to  the  fort,  which  at  that  time  was  left  in  an 
unprotected  condition.  The  commanding  officer 
sent  word  to  all  settlers  that  if  they  valued  their 
lives  they  would  abandon  their  claims  and  fly  to 
the  fort  for  safety.  Arms  and  ammunition  would 
be  furnished  to  all  who  came.  Haste  was  neces- 
sary, for  the  Indians  were  moving  rapidly  down 
the  Smoky  Hill. 

"But  the  Smoky  Hill  is  twenty-five  or  thirty 
miles  from  here,"  said  Mr.  Bryant ;  "  why  should 
they  strike  across  the  plains  between  here  and 
there?" 


THE   WOLF  AT  THE  DOOR.  193 

Battles  did  not  know ;  but  he  supposed,  from 
his  talk  with  the  corporal,  that  it  was  expected 
that  the  Cheyennes  would  not  go  quite  to  the  fort, 
but,  having  raided  the  Smoky  Hill  country  down 
as  near  to  the  post  as  might  seem  safe,  they  would 
strike  across  to  the  Republican  Fork  at  some 
narrow  point  between  the  two  rivers,  travel  up 
that  stream,  and  so  go  back  to  the  plains  from 
which  they  came,  robbing  and  burning  by  the  way. 

The  theory  seemed  a  reasonable  one.  Such  a 
raid  was  like  Indian  warfare. 

"  How  many  men  are  there  at  the  post  ?  "  asked 
Uncle  Aleck. 

"  Ten  men  including  the  corporal  and  a  lieuten- 
ant of  cavalry,"  replied  Battles,  who  was  a  pro- 
slavery  man.  "  The  rest  are  down  at  Lawrence  to 
suppress  the  rebellion." 

"  So  the  commanding  officer  at  the  post  wants 
us  to  come  down  and  help  defend  the  fort,  which 
has  been  left  to  take  care  of  itself  while  the  troops 
are  at  Lawrence  keeping  down  the  free-State  men," 
said  Mr.  Bryant,  bitterly.  "  For  my  part,  I  don't 
feel  like  going.  How  is  it  with  you,  Aleck  ?  " 

"I  guess  we  had  better  take  care  of  ourselves 
and  the  boys,  Charlie,"  said  Uncle  Aleck,  cheerily. 
"It's  pretty  mean  for  Uncle  Sam  to  leave  the 
settlers  to  take  care  of  themselves  and  the  post  at 
this  critical  time,  I  know ;  but  we  can't  afford  to 
quibble  about  that  now.  Safety  is  the  first  con- 
sideration. What  does  Younkins  say?"  he  asked 
of  Battles. 


194  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"A  randyvoo  has  been  appointed  at  my  house 
to-night,"  said  the  man,  '^and  Younkins  said  he 
would  be  there  before  sundown.  He  told  me  to 
tell  you  not  to  wait  for  him ;  he  would  meet  you 
there.  He  has  sent  his  wife  and  children  over  to 
Fuller's ;  and  Fuller  has  agreed  to  send  them  with 
Mrs.  Fuller  over  to  the  Big  Blue,  where  there  is 
no  danger.  Fuller  will  be  back  to  my  place  by 
midnight.  There  is  no  time  to  fool  away." 

Here  was  an  unexpected  crisis.  The  country 
was  evidently  alarmed  and  up  in  arms.  An  In- 
dian raid,  even  if  over  twenty  miles  away,  was  a 
terror  that  they  had  not  reckoned  on.  After  a 
hurried  consultation,  the  Whittier  settlers  agreed 
to  be  at  the  "  randyvoo,"  as  Battles  called  it,  be- 
fore daybreak  next  morning.  They  thought  it 
best  to  take  his  advice  and  hide  what  valuables 
they  had  in  the  cabin,  make  all  snug,  and  leave 
things  as  if  they  never  expected  to  see  their  home 
again,  and  take  their  way  to  the  post  as  soon  as 


It  was  yet  early  morning,  for  Mr.  Battles  had 
wasted  no  time  in  warning  the  settlers  as  soon  as 
he  had  received  notice  from  the  fort.  They  had 
all  the  day  before  them  for  their  preparations.  So 
the  settlers,  leaving  other  plans  for  the  time,  went 
zealously  to  work  packing  up  and  secreting  in  the 
thickets  and  the  gully  the  things  they  thought 
most  valuable  and  they  were  least  willing  to  spare. 
Clothing,  crockery,  and  table  knives  and  forks 


THE  WOLF  AT  THE  DOOB.  195 

were  wrapped  up  in  whatever  came  handy  and 
were  buried  in  holes  dug  in  the  ploughed  ground. 
Lead,  bullets,  slugs,  and  tools  of  various  kinds 
were  buried  or  concealed  in  the  forks  of  trees, 
high  up  and  out  of  sight.  Where  any  articles 
were  buried  in  the  earth,  a  fire  was  afterwards 
built  on  the  surface  so  that  no  trace  of  the  dis- 
turbed ground  should  be  left  to  show  the  expected 
redskins  that  goods  had  been  there  concealed. 
They  lamented  that  a  sack  of  flour  and  a  keg  of 
molasses  could  not  be  put  away,  and  that  their 
supply  of  side-meat,  which  had  cost  them  a  long 
journey  to  Manhattan,  must  be  abandoned  to  the 
foe  —  if  he  came  to  take  it.  But  everything  that 
could  be  hidden  in  trees  or  buried  in  the  earth  was 
so  disposed  of  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

Perhaps  the  boys,  after  the  first  flush  of  appre- 
hension had  passed,  rather  enjoyed  the  novelty 
and  the  excitement.  Their  spirits  rose  as  they 
privately  talked  among  themselves  of  the  real 
Indian  warfare  of  which  this  was  a  foretaste.  They 
hoped  that  it  would  be  nothing  worse.  When  the 
last  preparations  were  made,  and  they  were  ready 
to  depart  from  their  home,  uncertain  whether  they 
would  ever  see  it  again,  Sandy,  assisted  by  Oscar, 
composed  the  following  address.  It  was  written 
in  a  big,  boyish  hand  on  a  sheet  of  letter-paper, 
and  was  left  on  the  table  in  the  middle  of  their 
cabin :  — 


196  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

GOOD  MISTER  INDIAN  :  We  are  leaving  in  a  hurry  and 
we  want  you  to  be  careful  of  the  fire  ^rhen  you  come.  Don't 
*at  the  corn-meal  in  the  sack  in  the  corner ;  it  is  poisoned. 
The  flour  is  full  of  crickets,  and  crickets  are  not  good  for  the 
stomach.  Don't  fool  with  the  matches,  nor  waste  the  mo- 
lasses. Be  done  as  you  would  do  by,  for  that  is  the  golden 
rule.  Yours  truly, 

THE  WHITTIER  SETTLFM. 

Even  in  the  midst  of  their  uneasiness  aru? 
trouble,  their  elders  laughed  at  this  unique  com- 
position, although  Mr.  Bryant  thoiight  that  tha 
boys  had  mixed  their  version  of  the  golden  rule. 
Sandy  said  that  no  Cheyenne  would  be  likely  to 
improve  upon  it.  So,  with  many  misgivings,  the 
little  party  closed  the  doof  cf  their  home  behind 
them,  and  took  up  thei*  lilts  of  march  to  the  ren- 
dezvous. 

The  shortest  waj  t*»  Battles's  was  by  a  ford 
farther  down  th&  river,  and  not  by  the  way  of  the 
Younkins  placo  So,  crossing  the  creek  on  a  fallen 
tree  near  wK^re  Sandy  had  shot  his  famous  flock 
of  ducks,  and  then  steering  straight  across  the  flat 
bottomland  on  the  opposite  side,  the  party  struck 
into  «»  trail  that  led  through  the  cottonwoods 
skirting  the  west  bank  of  the  stream.  The  moon 
was  full,  and  the  darkness  of  the  grove  through 
which  they  wended  their  way  in  single  file  was 
lighted  by  long  shafts  of  moonbeams  that  streamed 
through  the  dense  growth.  The  silence,  save  for 
the  steady  tramp  of  the  little  expedition,  was  ab- 
solute. Now  and  again  a  night-owl  hooted,  or  a 


THE   WOLF  AT  THE  DOOR.  197 

sleeping  hare,  scared  from  its  form,  scampered 
away  into  the  underbrush;  but  these  few  sounds 
made  the  solitude  only  more  oppressive.  Charlie, 
bringing  up  the  rear,  noted  the  glint  of  the  moon- 
light on  the  barrels  of  the  firearms  carried  by  the 
party  ahead  of  him,  and  all  the  romance  in  his 
nature  was  kindled  by  the  thought  that  this  was 
frontier  life  in  the  Indian  country.  Not  far  away, 
he  thought,  as  he  turned  his  face  to  the  southward, 
the  cabins  of  settlers  along  the  Smoky  Hill  were 
burning,  and  death  and  desolation  marked  the 
trail  of  the  cruel  Cheyennes. 

Now  and  again  Sandy,  shivering  in  the  chill 
and  dampness  of  the  wood,  fell  back  and  whispered 
to  Oscar,  who  followed  him  in  the  narrow  trail, 
that  this  would  be  awfully  jolly  if  he  were  not  so 
sleepy.  The  lad  was  accustomed  to  go  to  bed 
soon  after  dark ;  it  was  now  late  into  the  night. 

All  hands  were  glad  when  the  big  double  cabin 
of  the  Battles  family  came  in  sight  about  midnight, 
conspicuous  on  a  rise  of  the  rolling  prairie  and 
black  against  the  sky.  Lights  were  burning 
brightly  in  one  end  of  the  cabin ;  in  the  other  end 
a  part  of  the  company  had  gone  to  sleep,  camping 
on  the  floor.  Hot  coffee  and  corn-bread  were 
ready  for  the  newcomers,  and  Younkins,  with  a 
tender  regard  for  the  lads,  who  were  unaccus- 
tomed to  milk  when  at  home,  brought  out  a  big 
pan  of  delicious  cool  milk  for  their  refreshment. 
Altogether,  as  Sandy  confessed  to  himself,  an  In- 


198  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

dian  scare  was  not  without  its  fun.  He  listened 
with  great  interest  to  the  tales  that  the  settlers 
had  to  tell  of  the  exploits  of  Gray  Wolf,  the 
leader  and  chief  of  the  Cheyennes.  He  was  a 
famous  man  in  his  time,  and  some  of  the  elder 
settlers  of  Kansas  will  even  now  remember  his 
name  with  awe.  The  boys  were  not  at  all  desirous 
of  meeting  the  Indian  foe,  but  they  secretly  hoped 
that  if  they  met  any  of  the  redskins,  they  would 
see  the  far-famed  Gray  Wolf. 

While  the  party,  refreshed  by  their  late  supper, 
found  a  lodging  anywhere  on  the  floor  of  the 
cabin,  a  watch  was  set  outside,  for  the  Indians 
might  pounce  upon  them  at  any  hour  of  the  night 
or  day.  Those  who  had  mounted  guard  during 
the  earlier  part  of  the  evening  went  to  their  rest. 
Charlie,  as  he  dropped  off  to  sleep,  heard  the  foot- 
steps of  the  sentry  outside  and  said  to  himself,  half 
in  jest,  "  The  Wolf  is  at  the  door." 

But  no  wolf  came  to  disturb  their  slumbers. 
The  bright  and  cheerful  day,  and  the  song  of  birds 
dispelled  the  gloom  of  the  night,  and  fear  was 
lifted  from  the  minds  of  the  anxious  settlers,  some 
of  whom,  separated  from  wives  and  children,  were 
troubled  with  thoughts  of  homes  despoiled  and 
crops  destroyed.  Just  as  they  had  finished  break- 
fast and  were  preparing  for  the  march  to  the  fort, 
now  only  two  or  three  miles  away,  a  mounted  man 
in  the  uniform  of  a  United  States  dragoon  dashed 
up  to  the  cabin,  and,  with  a  flourish  of  soldierly 


THE  WOLF  AT  THE  DOOR.  199 

manner,  informed  the  company  that  the  command- 
ing officer  at  the  post  had  information  that  the 
Cheyennes,  instead  of  crossing  over  to  the  Repub- 
lican as  had  been  expected,  or  attacking  th.  ^rt, 
had  turned  and  gone  back  the  way  they  came. 
All  was  safe,  and  the  settlers  might  go  home 
assured  that  there  was  no  danger  to  themselves 
or  their  families. 

Having  delivered  this  welcome  message  in  a 
grand  and  semi-official  manner,  the  corporal  dis- 
mounted from  his  steed,  in  answer  to  a  pressing 
invitation  from  Battles,  and  unbent  himself  like 
an  ordinary  mortal  to  partake  of  a  very  hearty 
breakfast  of  venison,  corn-bread,  and  coffee.  The 
company  unslung  their  guns  and  rifles,  sat  down 
again,  and  regaled  themselves  with  pipes,  occa- 
sional cups  of  strong  colrie,  and  yet  more  exhila- 
rating tales  of  the  exploits  and  adventures  of 
Indian  slayers  of  the  earlier  time  on  the  Kansas 
frontier.  The  great  Indian  scare  was  over.  Be- 
fore night  fell  again,  every  settler  ha^  -ne  his 
own  way  to  his  claim,  glad  that  things  vvere  no 
worse,  but  groaning  at  Uncle  Sam  for  the  niggard- 
liness which  had  left  the  region  so  defenceless 
when  an  emergency  had  come. 


200  THE  EOT  SETTLERS, 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

DISCOURAGEMENT. 

RIGHT  glad  were  our  settlers  to  see  their  log*. 
cabin  home  peacefully  sleeping  in  the  autumnal 
sunshine,  as  they  returned  along  the  familiar  trail 
from  the  river.  They  had  gone  back  by  the  way 
of  the  Younkins  place  and  had  partaken  of  the 
good  man's  hospitality.  Younkins  thought  it  best 
to  leave  his  brood  with  his  neighbors  on  the  Big 
Blue  for  another  day.  "  The  old  woman,"  he  said, 
"  would  feel  sort  of  scary-like  "  until  things  had 
well  blown  over.  She  was  all  right  where  she 
was,  and  he  would  try  to  get  on  alone  for  a  while. 
So  the  boys,  under  his  guidance,  cooked  a  hearty 
luncLc  vhich  they  heartily  enjoyed.  Younkins 
had  milk  and  eggs,  both  of  which  articles  were 
luxuries  to  the  Whittier  boys,  for  on  their  ranch 
they  had  neither  cow  nor  hens. 

"Why  can't  we  have  some  hens  this  fall, 
daddy?"  asked  Sandy,  luxuriating  in  a  big  bowl 
of  custard  sweetened  with  brown  sugar,  which  the 
skilful  Charlie  had  compounded.  "  We  can  build 
a  hen-house  there  by  the  corral,  under  the  lee  of 
the  cabin,  and  make  it  nice  and  warm  for  the  win- 


DISCOURAGEMENT.  201 

ter.  Battles  has  got  hens  to  sell,  and  perhaps  Mr. 
Younkins  would  be  willing  to  sell  us  some  of  his." 

"  If  we  stay,  Sandy,  we  will  have  some  fowls ;  but 
we  will  talk  about  that  by  and  by,"  said  his  father. 

"Stay?"  echoed  Sandy.  "Why,  is  there  any 
notion  of  going  back  ?  Back  from  "  bleeding  Kan- 
sas "  ?  Why,  daddy,  I'm  ashamed  of  you." 

Mr.  Howell  smiled  and  looked  at  his  brother-in- 
law.  "  Things  do  not  look  very  encouraging  for  a 
winter  in  Kansas,  bleeding  or  not  bleeding;  do 
they,  Charlie  ?  " 

"Well,  if  you  appeal  to  me,  father,"  replied 
the  lad,  "  I  shall  be  glad  to  stay  and  glad  to  go 
home.  But,  after  all,  I  must  say,  I  don't  exactly 
see  what  we  can  do  here  this  winter.  There  is  no 
farm  work  that  can  be  done.  But  it  would  cost 
an  awful  lot  of  money  to  go  back  to  Dixon,  unless 
we  took  back  everything  with  us  and  went  as  we 
came,  Wouldn't  it?" 

Younkins  did  not  say  anything,  but  he  looked 
approvingly  at  Charlie  while  the  other  two  men 
discussed  the  problem.  Mr.  Bryant  said  it  was 
likely  to  be  a  hard  winter;  they  had  no  corn  to 
sell,  none  to  feed  to  their  cattle.  "  But  corn  is  so 
cheap  that  the  settlers  over  on  Solomon's  Fork  say 
they  will  use  it  for  fuel  this  winter.  Battles  told 
me  so.  I'd  like  to  see  a  fire  of  corn  on  the  cob; 
they  say  it  makes  a  hot  fire  burned  that  way. 
Corn-cobs  without  corn  hold  the  heat  a  long  time. 
I've  tried  it," 


202  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"  It  is  just  here,  boys,"  said  Uncle  Aleck.  '*  The 
folks  at  home  are  lonesome ;  they  write,  you  know, 
that  they  want  to  come  out  before  the  winter  sets 
in.  But  it  would  be  mighty  hard  for  women  out 
here,  this  coming  winter,  with  big  hulking  fellows 
like  us  to  cook  for  and  with  nothing  for  us  to  do. 
Everything  to  eat  would  have  to  be  bought.  We 
haven't  even  an  ear  of  corn  for  ourselves  or  our 
cattle.  Instead  of  selling  corn  at  the  post,  as  we 
expected,  we  would  have  to  buy  of  our  neighbors, 
Mr.  Younkins  here,  and  Mr.  Fuller,  and  we  would  be 
obliged  to  buy  our  flour  and  groceries  at  the  post, 
or  down  at  Manhattan ;  and  they  charge  two  prices 
for  things  out  here ;  they  have  to,  for  it  costs 
money  to  haul  stuff  all  the  way  from  the  river." 

"  That's  so,"  said  Younkins,  resignedly.  He  was 
thinking  of  making  a  trip  to  "  the  river,"  as  the 
settlers  around  there  always  called  the  Missouri, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant.  But  Youn- 
kins assured  his  friends  that  they  were  welcome  to 
live  in  his  cabin  where  they  still  were  at  home,  for 
another  year,  if  they  liked,  and  he  would  haul 
from  the  river  any  purchases  that  they  might 
make.  He  was  expecting  to  be  ready  to  start  for 
Leavenworth  in  a  few  days,  as  they  knew,  and  one 
of  them  could  go  down  with  him  and  lay  in  a  few 
supplies.  His  team  could  haul  enough  for  all 
hands.  If  not,  they  could  double  up  the  two 
teams  and  bring  back  half  of  Leavenworth,  if 
they  had  the  money  to  buy  so  much.  He  "  hated 


DISCOURAGEMENT.  208 

dreadfully "  to  hear  them  talking  about  going 
back  to  Illinois. 

But  when  the  settlers  reached  home  and  found 
amusement  and  some  little  excitement  in  the  dig- 
ging up  of  their  household  treasures  and  putting 
things  in  place  once  more,  the  thought  of  leaving 
this  home  in  the  Far  West  obtruded  itself  rather 
unpleasantly  on  the  minds  of  all  of  them,  although 
nobody  spoke  of  what  each  thought.  Oscar  had 
hidden  his  precious  violin  high  up  among  the 
rafters  of  the  cabin,  being  willing  to  lose  it  only  if 
the  cabin  were  burned.  There  was  absolutely  no 
other  place  where  it  would  be  safe  to  leave  it.  He 
climbed  to  the  loft  overhead  and  brought  it  forth 
with  great  glee,  laid  his  cheek  lovingly  on  its  body 
and  played  a  familiar  air.  Engrossed  in  his  music, 
he  played  on  and  on  until  he  ran  into  the  melody 
of  "  Home,  Sweet  Home,"  to  which  he  had  added 
many  curious  and  artistic  variations. 

"Don't  play  that,  Oscar;  you  make  me  home- 
sick!" cried  Charlie,  with  a  suspicious  moisture 
in  his  eyes.  "  It  was  all  very  well  for  us  to  hear 
that  when  this  was  the  only  home  we  had  or  ex- 
pected to  have ;  but  daddy  and  Uncle  Charlie 
have  set  us  to  thinking  about  the  home  in  Illinois, 
and  that  will  make  us  all  homesick,  I  really 
believe." 

"  Here  is  all  my  '  funny  business '  wasted,"  cried 
Sandy.  "  No  Indian  came  to  read  my  comic  letter, 
after  all.  I  suppose  the  mice  and  crickets  must 


THE  BOY  SETTLSZS, 

have  found  some  amusement  in  it;  I  saw  anj 
number  of  them  scampering  away  when  I  opened 
the  door;  but  I  guess  they  are  the  only  living 
things  that  have  been  here  since  we  went  away." 

"  Isn't  it  queer  that  we  should  be  gone  like  this 
for  nearly  two  days,"  said  Oscar,  "  leaving  every- 
thing behind  us,  and  come  back  and  know  that 
nobody  has  been  any  nearer  to  the  place  than  we 
have,  all  the  time  ?  I  can't  get  used  to  it." 

"  My  little  philosopher,"  said  his  Uncle  Charlie, 
"  we  are  living  in  the  wilderness ;  and  if  you  were 
to  live  here  always,  you  would  feel,  by  and  by, 
that  every  newcomer  was  an  interloper;  you 
would  resent  the  intrusion  of  any  more  settlers 
here,  interfering  with  our  freedom  and  turning 
out  their  cattle  to  graze  on  the  ranges  that  seem 
to  be  so  like  our  own,  now.  That's  what  happens 
to  frontier  settlers,  everywhere." 

"  Why,  yes,"  said  Sandy, "  I  s'pose  we  should  all  be 
like  that  man  over  on  the  Big  Blue  that  Mr.  Fuller 
tells  about,  who  moved  away  when  a  newcomer 
took  up  a  claim  ten  miles  and  a  half  from  him, 
because,  as  he  thought,  the  people  were  getting  too 
thick.  For  my  part,  I  am  willing  to  have  this 
part  of  Kansas  crowded  to  within,  say,  a  mile  and 
a  half  of  us,  and  no  more.  Hey,  Charlie  ?  " 

But  the  prospect  of  that  side  of  the  Republican 
Fork  being  over-full  with  settlers  did  not  seem  very 
imminent  about  that  time.  From  parts  of  Kansas 
nearer  to  the  Missouri  River  than  they  were,  they 


DISCOURAGEMENT.  20& 

heard  of  a  slackening  in  the  stream  of  migration. 
The  prospect  of  a  cold  winter  had  cooled  the  ardor 
of  the  politicians  who  had  determined,  earlier  in 
the  season,  to  hold  the  Territory  against  all  comers. 
Something  like  a  truce  had  been  tacitly  agreed  on, 
and  there  was  a  cessation  of  hostilities  for  the  pres- 
ent. The  troops  had  been  marched  back  from 
Lawrence  to  the  post,  and  no  more  elections  were 
coming  on  for  the  present  in  any  part  of  the  Terri- 
tory. Mr.  Bryant,  who  was  the  only  ardent  politi- 
cian of  the  company,  thought  that  it  would  be  a 
good  plan  to  go  back  to  Illinois  for  the  winter. 
They  could  come  out  again  in  the  spring  and  bring 
the  rest  of  the  two  families  with  them.  The  land 
would  not  run  away  while  they  were  gone. 

It  was  with  much  reluctance  that  the  boys  ac- 
cepted this  plan  of  their  elders.  They  were  espe- 
cially sorry  that  it  was  thought  best  that  the  two 
men  should  stay  behind  and  wind  up  affairs,  while 
the  three  lads  would  go  down  to  the  river  with 
Younkins,  and  thence  home  by  steamer  from 
Leavenworth  down  the  Missouri  to  St.  Louis. 
But,  after  a  few  days  of  debate,  this  was  thought 
to  be  the  best  thing  that  could  be  done.  It  was 
on  a  dull,  dark  November  day  that  the  boys,  wad- 
ing for  the  last  time  the  cold  stream  of  the  Fork, 
crossed  over  to  Younkins's  early  in  the  morning, 
while  the  sky  was  red  with  the  dawning,  carrying 
their  light  baggage  with  them.  They  had  ferried 
their  trunks  across  the  day  before,  using  the  ox- 


206  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

cart  for  the  purpose  and  loading  all  into  Youn- 
kins's  team,  ready  for  the  homeward  journey. 

Now  that  the  bustle  of  departure  had  come,  it 
did  not  seem  so  hard  to  leave  the  new  home  on  the 
Republican  as  they  had  expected.  It  had  been 
agreed  that  the  two  men  should  follow  in  a  week, 
in  time  to  take  the  last  steamboat  going  down  the 
river  in  the  fall,  from  Fort  Benton,  before  the  clos- 
ing of  navigation  for  the  season.  Mr.  Bryant,  un- 
known to  the  boys,  had  written  home  to  Dixon 
directing  that  money  be  sent  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  Charlie,  in  care  of  a  well-known  firm  in  Leaven- 
worth.  They  would  find  it  there  on  their  arrival, 
and  that  would  enable  them  to  pay  their  way  down 
the  river  to  St.  Louis  and  thence  home  by  the  rail- 
road, 

"  But  suppose  the  money  shouldn't  turn  up  ? " 
asked  Charlie,  when  told  of  the  money  awaiting 
them.  He  was  accustomed  to  look  on  the  dark 
side  of  things,  sometimes,  so  the  rest  of  them 
thought.  "  What  then  ?  " 

"Well,  I  guess  you  will  have  to  walk  home,'* 
said  his  uncle,  with  a  smile.  "But  don't  worry 
about  that.  At  the  worst,  you  can  work  your 
passage  to  St.  Louis,  and  there  you  will  find 
your  uncle,  Oscar  G.  Bryant,  of  the  firm  of 
Bryant,  Wilder  &  Co.  I'll  give  you  his  address, 
and  he  will  see  you  through,  in  case  of  accidents. 
But  there  will  be  no  accidents.  What  is  the  use 
of  borrowing  trouble  about  that?" 


DISCOURAGEMENT.  207 

They  did  not  borrow  any  trouble,  and  as  they 
drove  away  from  the  scenes  that  had  grown  so 
familiar  to  them,  they  looked  forward,  as  all  boys 
would,  to  an  adventurous  voyage  down  the  Mis- 
souri, and  a  welcome  home  to  their  mothers  and 
their  friends  in  dear  old  Dixon. 

The  nights  were  now  cold  and  the  days  chilly. 
They  had  cooked  a  goodly  supply  of  provisions 
for  their  journey,  for  they  had  not  much  ready 
money  to  pay  for  fare  by  the  way.  At  noon  they 
stopped  by  the  roadside  and  made  a  pot  of  hot 
coffee,  opened  their  stores  of  provisions  and 
lunched  merrily,  gypsy-fashion,  caring  nothing  for 
the  curious  looks  and  inquisitive  questions  of 
other  wayfarers  who  passed  them.  For  the  first 
few  nights  they  attempted  to  sleep  in  the  wagon. 
But  it  was  fearfully  cold,  and  the  wagon-bed, 
cluttered  up  with  trunks,  guns,  and  other  things, 
gave  them  very  little  room.  Miserable  and  sore, 
they  resolved  to  spend  their  very  last  dollar,  if 
need  be,  in  paying  for  lodging  at  the  wayside  inns 
and  hospitable  cabins  of  the  settlers  along  the 
road.  The  journey  homeward  was  not  nearly  so 
merry  as  that  of  the  outward  trip.  But  new  cabins 
had  been  built  along  their  route,  and  the  lads 
found  much  amusement  in  hunting  up  their  former 
camping-places  as  they  drove  along  the  military 
road  to  Fort  Leavenworth. 

In  this  way,  sleeping  at  the  farm-houses  and 
such  casual  taverns  as  had  grown  up  by  the  high- 


208  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

way,  and  usually  getting  their  supper  and  break- 
fast where  they  slept,  they  crept  slowly  toward 
the  river.  Sandy  was  the  cashier  of  the  party, 
although  he  had  preferred  that  Oharlie,  being  the 
eldest,  should  carry  their  slender  supply  of  cash. 
Charlie  would  not  take  that  responsibility ;  but, 
as  the  days  went  by,  he  rigorously  required  an 
accounting  every  morning;  he  was  very  much 
afraid  that  their  money  would  not  hold  out  until 
they  reached  Leavenworth. 

Twenty  miles  a  day  with  an  ox-team  was  fairly 
good  travelling ;  and  it  was  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  the  Republican  to  the  Missouri,  as  the 
young  emigrants  travelled  the  road.  A  whole 
week  had  been  consumed  by  the  tedious  trip  when 
they  drove  into  the  busy  and  bustling  town  of 
Leavenworth,  one  bright  autumnal  morning.  All 
along  the  way  they  had  picked  up  much  informa- 
tion about  the  movement  of  steamers,  and  they 
were  delighted  to  find  that  the  steamboat  "  New 
Lucy  "  was  lying  at  the  levee,  ready  to  sail  on  fche 
afternoon  of  the  very  day  they  would  be  in  Leav- 
enworth. They  camped,  for  the  last  time,  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  town,  a  good-natured  border-State 
man  affording  them  shelter  in  his  hay-barn,  where 
they  slept  soundly  all  through  their  last  night  in 
"  bleeding  Kansas." 

The  "New  Lucy,"  from  Fort  Benton  on  the 
upper  Missouri,  was  blowing  off  steam  as  they 
drove  down  to  the  levee.  Younkins  helped  them 


DISCOURAGEMENT.  209 

unload  their  baggage,  wrung  their  hands,  one 
after  another,  with  real  tears  in  his  eyes,  for  he 
had  learned  to  love  these  hearty,  happy  lads,  and 
then  drove  away  with  his  cattle  to  pen  them  for 
the  day  and  night  that  he  should  be  there.  Charlie 
and  Oscar  went  to  the  warehouse  of  Osterhaus  & 
Wickham,  where  they  were  to  find  the  letter  from 
home,  the  precious  letter  containing  forty  dollars 
to  pay  their  expenses  homeward. 

Sandy  sat  on  the  pile  of  trunks  watching  with 
great  interest  the  novel  sight  of  hurrying  pas- 
sengers, different  from  any  people  he  ever  saw 
before;  black  "roustabouts,"  or  deck-hands,  tum- 
bling the  cargo  and  the  firewood  on  board,  singing, 
shouting,  and  laughing  the  while,  the  white  mates 
overseeing  the  work  with  many  h.va  v  ords,  and 
the  captain,  tough  and  swarthy,  superintending 
from  the  upper  deck  the  mates  and  aL  hai.  3s.  A 
party  of  nice-looking,  citified  people,  as  Sandy 
thought  them,  attracted  his  attention  on  the  upper 
deck,  and  he  mentally  wondered  what  they  could 
be  doing  here,  so  far  in  the  wilderness. 

"  Car'  yer  baggage  aboard,  boss  ?  "  asked  a  lively 
young  negro,  half-clad  and  hungry-looking. 

"No,  not  yet,"  answered  Sandy,  feeling  in  his 
trousers  pocket  the  last  two  quarters  of  a  dollar 
that  was  left  them.  "  Not  yet.  I  am  not  ready  to  go 
aboard  till  my  mates  come."  The  hungry-looking 
darky  made  a  rush  for  another  more  promising 
passenger  and  left  Sandy  lounging  where  the  other 


210  THE  BOY  SETTLEES. 

lads  soon  after  found  him.  Charlie's  face  was  a 
picture  of  despair.  Oscar  looked  very  grave,  for 
him. 

"What's  up?"  cried  Sandy,  starting  from  his 
seat.  "  Have  you  seen  a  ghost  ?  " 

"  Worse  than  that,"  said  Charlie.  "  Somebody's 
stolen  the  money !  " 

"  Stolen  the  money  ?  "  echoed  Sandy,  with  vague 
terror,  the  whole  extent  of  the  catastrophe  flitting 
before  his  mind.  "  Why,  what  on  earth  do  you 
mean?" 

Oscar  explained  that  they  had  found  the  letter, 
as  they  expected,  and  he  produced  it,  written  by 
the  two  loving  mothers  at  home.  They  said  that 
they  had  made  up  their  minds  to  send  fifty  dollars, 
instead  of  J*e  forty  that  Uncle  Charlie  had  said 
would  bt;  enough.  It  was  in  ten-dollar  notes,  five 
of  thei^;  at  least,  it  had  been  so  when  the  letter 
left  Dixon.  When  it  was  opened  in  Leavenworth, 
it  was  empty,  save  for  the  love  and  tenderness 
that  were  in  it.  Sandy  groaned. 

The  lively  young  darky  came  up  again  with, 
"  Car'  yer  baggage  aboard,  boss  ?  " 

It  was  sickening. 

"What's  to  be  done  now?"  said  Charlie,  in 
deepest  dejection,  as  he  sat  on  the  pile  of  baggage 
that  now  looked  so  useless  and  needless.  "  I  just 
believe  some  of  the  scamps  I  saw  loafing  around 
there  in  that  store  stole  the  money  out  of  the  let- 
ter. See  here ;  it  was  sealed  with  that  confounded 


DISCOURAGEMENT.  211 

new-fangled  '  mucilage ' ;  gumstickum  I  call  it. 
Anybody  could  feel  those  five  bank-notes  inside  of 
the  letter,  and  anybody  could  steam  it  open,  take 
out  the  money,  and  seal  it  up  again.  We  have 
been  robbed." 

"  Let's  go  and  see  the  heads  of  the  house  there 
at  Osterhaus  &  Wickham's.  They  will  see  us 
righted,"  cried  Sandy,  indignantly.  "I  won't 
stand  it,  for  one." 

"  No  use,"  groaned  Charlie.  "  We  saw  Mr.  Os- 
terhaus. He  was  very  sorry  —  oh,  yes!  —  aw 
fully  sorry;  but  he  didn't  know  us,  and  he  had 
no  responsibility  for  the  letters  that  came  to  his 
place.  It  was  only  an  accommodation  to  people 
that  he  took  them  in  his  care,  anyhow.  Oh,  it's  no 
use  talking !  Here  we  are,  stranded  in  a  strange 
place,  knowing  i  ^  living  soul  in  the  whole  town 
but  good  old  Younkins,  and  nobody  knows  where 
he  is.  He  couldn't  lend  us  the  money,  even 
if  we  were  mean  enough  to  ask  him.  Good  old 
Younkins!" 

"  Younkins  ! "  cried  Sandy,  starting  to  his  feet. 
:  He  will  give  us  good  advice.  He  has  got  a  great 
head,  has  Younkins.  I'll  go  and  ask  him  what  to 
do.  Bless  me  !  There  he  is  now ! "  and  as  he 
spoke,  the  familiar  slouching  figure  of  their  neigh- 
bor came  around  the  corner  of  a  warehouse  on  the 
levee. 

"Why  don't  yer  go  aboard,  boys?  The  boat 
leaves  at  noon,  and  it's  past  twelve  now.  I  just 


212  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

thought  I'd  come  down  and  say  good-by-like,  foi 
I'm  powerful  sorry  to  hare  ye  go." 

The  boys  explained  to  the  astonished  and 
grieved  Younkins  how  they  had  been  wrecked, 
as  it  were,  almost  in  sight  of  the  home  port.  The 
good  man  nodded  his  head  gravely,  as  he  listened, 
softly  jingled  the  few  gold  coins  in  his  trousers 
pocket,  and  said :  "  Well,  boys,  this  is  the  wust 
scald  I  ever  did  see.  If  I  wasn't  so  dreadful  hard 
up,  I'd  give  ye  what  I've  got." 

"  That's  not  to  be  thought  of,  Mr.  Younkins," 
said  Charlie,  with  dignity  and  gratitude,  "for  we 
can't  think  of  borrowing  money  to  get  home  with. 
It  would  be  better  to  wait  until  we  can  write  home 
for  more.  We  might  earn  enough  to  pay  our 
board."  And  Charlie,  with  a  sigh,  looked  around 
at  the  unsympathetic  and  hurryir  *  throng. 

"  You've  got  baggage  as  security  for  your  pas- 
sage to  St.  Louis.  Go  aboard  and  tell  the  clerk 
how  you  are  fixed.  Your  pa  said  as  how  you 
would  be  all  right  when  you  got  to  St.  Louis.  Go 
and  *  brace '  the  clerk." 

This  was  a  new  idea  to  the  boys.  They  had 
never  heard  of  such  a  thing.  Who  would  dare 
to  ask  such  a  great  favor?  The  fare  from  Leav- 
en worth  to  St.  Louis  was  twelve  dollars  each. 
They  had  known  all  about  that.  And  they  knew, 
too,  that  the  price  included  their  meals  on  the  way 
down. 

"  I'll  go  brace  the  clerk,"  said  Sandy,  stoutly ; 


DISCOURAGEMENT.  213 

and  before  the  others  could  put  in  a  word,  he  was 
gone. 

The  clerk  was  a  handsome,  stylish-looking  man, 
with  a  good-natured  countenance  that  reassured 
the  timid  boy  at  once.  Mustering  up  his  waning 
courage,  Sandy  stated  the  case  to  him,  telling  him 
that  that  pile  of  trunks  and  guns  on  the  levee  was 
theirs,  and  that  they  would  leave  them  on  board 
when  they  got  to  St.  Louis  until  they  had  found 
their  uncle  and  secured  the  money  for  their  fares. 

The  handsome  clerk  looked  sharply  at  the  lad 
while  he  was  telling  his  story.  "  You've  got  an 
honest  face,  my  little  man.  I'll  trust  you.  Bring 
aboard  your  baggage.  People  spar  their  way  on 
the  river  every  day  in  the  year ;  you  needn't  be 
ashamed  of  it.  Accidents  will  happen,  you  know." 
And  the  busy  clerk  turned  away  to  another  cus- 
tomer. 

With  a  light  heart  Sandy  ran  ashore.  His  wait- 
ing and  anxiously  watching  comrades  saw  by  his 
face  that  he  had  been  successful,  before  he  spoke. 

"  That's  all  fixed,"  he  cried,  blithely. 

"  Bully  boy !  "  said  Younkins,  admiringly. 

"Car'  yer  baggage  aboard,  boss?"  asked  the 
lively  young  darky. 

"  Take  it  along,"  said  Sandy,  with  a  lordly  air. 
They  shook  hands  with  Younkins  once  more,  this 
time  with  more  fervor  than  ever.  Then  the  three 
lads  filed  on  board  the  steamboat.  The  gang- 
plank was  hauled  in,  put  out  again  for  the  last 


214  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

tardy  passenger,  once  more  taken  aboard,  and  then 
the  stanch  steamer  "  New  Lucy "  was  on  her  way 
down  the  turbid  Missouri. 

"  Oh,  Sandy,"  whispered  Charlie,  "  you  gave  that 
darky  almost  the  last  cent  we  had  for  bringing 
our  baggage  on  board.  We  ought  to  have  lugged 
it  aboard  ourselves." 

"Lugged  it  aboard  ourselves?  And  all  these 
people  that  we  are  going  to  be  passengers  with  for 
the  next  four  or  five  days  watching  us  while  we 
did  a  roustabout's  work?  Not  much.  We've  a 
quarter  left." 

Charlie  was  silent.  The  great  stern-wheel  of 
the  "  New  Lucy "  revolved  with  a  dashing  and  a 
churning  sound.  The  yellow  banks  of  the  Mis- 
souri sped  by  them.  The  sacred  soil  of  Kansas 
slid  past  as  in  a  swiftly  moving  panorama.  One 
home  was  hourly  growing  nearer,  while  another 
was  fading  away  there  into  the  golden  autumnal 
distance. 


DOWN   THE  BIG  MUDDY.  215 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

DOWN  THE  BIG  MUDDY. 

IT  is  more  than  six  hundred  miles  from  Leaven- 
worth  to  St.  Louis  by  the  river.  And  as  the  river 
is  crooked  exceedingly,  a  steamboat  travelling 
that  route  points  her  bow  at  every  point  of  the 
compass,  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  before  the 
voyage  is  finished.  The  boys  were  impatient  to 
reach  home,  to  be  back  in  dear  old  Dixon,  to  see 
the  mother  and  the  fireside  once  more.  But  they 
knew  that  days  must  pass  before  they  could  reach 
St.  Louis.  The  three  lads  settled  themselves  com- 
fortably in  the  narrow  limits  of  their  little  state- 
room ;  for  they  found  that  their  passage  included 
quarters  really  more  luxurious  than  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  in  their  Kansas  log-cabin. 

"  Not  much  army  blanket  and  buffalo-robe  about 
this,"  whispered  Oscar,  pressing  his  toil-stained 
hand  on  the  nice  white  spread  of  his  berth.  "  Say, 
wouldn't  Younkins  allow  that  this  was  rather 
comfortable-like,  if  he  was  to  see  it  and  compare  it 
with  his  deerskin  coverlet  that  he  is  so  proud  of  ?  " 

"  Well,  Younkins's  deerskin  coverlet  is  paid  for, 
and  this  isn't,"  said  Charlie,  grimly. 


216  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

But  the  light-hearted  younger  boys  borrowed 
no  trouble  on  that  score.  As  Sandy  said,  laugh- 
ingly, they  were  all  fixed  for  the  trip  to  St.  Louis, 
and  what  was  the  use  of  fretting  about  the  pas- 
sage money  until  the  time  came  to  pay  it  ? 

When  the  lads,  having  exchanged  their  flannel 
shirts  for  white  cotton  ones,  saved  up  for  this 
occasion,  came  out  from  their  room,  they  saw  two 
long  tables  covered  with  snowy  cloths  set  for  the 
whole  length  of  the  big  saloon.  They  had  scanned 
the  list  of  meal  hours  hanging  in  their  stateroom, 
and  were  very  well  satisfied  to  find  that  there 
were  three  meals  served  each  day.  It  was  nearly 
time  for  the  two  o'clock  dinner,  and  the  colored 
servants  were  making  ready  the  tables.  The  boat 
was  crowded  with  passengers,  and  it  looked  as  if 
some  of  them  would  be  obliged  to  wait  for  the 
"second  table."  On  board  of  a  steamboat,  espe- 
cially in  those  days  of  long  voyages,  the  matter  of 
getting  early  to  the  table  and  having  a  good  seat 
was  of  great  concern  to  the  passengers.  Men 
stood  around,  lining  the  walls  of  the  saloon  and 
regarding  with  hungry  expectation  the  movements 
of  the  waiters  who  were  making  ready  the  tables. 
When  the  chairs  were  placed,  every  man  laid  his 
hand  on  the  top  of  the  seat  nearest  him,  prepared, 
as  one  of  the  boys  privately  expressed  it,  to  "  make 
a  grab." 

"  Well,  if  we  don't  make  a  grab,  too,  we  shall 
get  left,"  whispered  Sandy,  and  the  boys  bashfully 


DOWN   THE  BIG  MUDDY.  217 

filed  down  the  saloon  and  stood  ready  to  take  their 
seats  when  the  gong  should  sound. 

To  eyes  unused  to  the  profuseness  of  living  that 
then  prevailed  on  the  best  class  of  Western  steam- 
boats, the  display  on  the  dining-tables  of  the  "  New 
Lucy"  was  very  grand  indeed.  The  waiters,  all 
their  movements  regulated  by  something  like  mili- 
tary discipline,  filed  in  and  out  bearing  handsome 
dishes  for  the  decoration  of  the  board. 

"  Just  look  at  those  gorgeous  flowers  !  Red, 
white,  blue,  purple,  yellow !  My !  aren't  they 
fine  ?  "  said  Sandy,  under  his  breath. 

Oscar  giggled.  "They  are  artificial,  Sandy. 
How  awfully  green  you  are ! " 

Sandy  stoutly  maintained  that  they  were  real 
flowers.  He  could  smell  them.  But  when  one 
of  the  waiters,  having  accidentally  overturned  one 
of  the  vases  and  knocked  a  flaming  bouquet  on 
the  carpeted  floor  of  the  cabin,  snatched  it  up  and 
dusted  it  with  his  big  black  hand,  Sandy  gave  in, 
and  murmured,  "  Tis  true ;  they're  false." 

But  the  boys'  eyes  fairly  stood  out  with  wonder 
and  admiration  when  a  procession  of  colored  men 
came  out  of  the  pantry,  bearing  a  grand  array  of 
ornamental  dishes.  Pineapples,  bananas,  great  bas- 
kets of  fancy  cakes,  and  other  dainties  attracted 
their  wonder-stricken  gaze.  But  most  of  all,  nu- 
merous pyramids  of  macaroons,  two  or  three  feet 
high,  with  silky  veils  of  spun  sugar  falling  down 
from  summit  to  base,  fascinated  their  attention. 


218  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

They  had  never  seen  the  like  at  a  public  table; 
and  the  generous  board  of  the  "  New  Lucy  "  fairly 
groaned  with  good  things  when  the  gong  some- 
what superfluously  announced  to  the  waiting 
throng  that  dinner  was  served. 

"No  plates,  knives,  or  forks,"  said  Sandy,  as, 
amid  a  great  clatter  and  rush,  everybody  sat  down 
to  the  table.  Just  then  a  long  procession  of  colored 
waiters  emerged  from  the  pantry,  the  foremost  man 
carrying  a  pile  of  plates,  and  after  him  came  another 
with  a  basket  of  knives,  after  him  another  with  a 
basket  of  forks,  then  another  with  spoons,  and  so  on, 
each  man  carrying  a  supply  of  some  one  article  for 
the  table.  With  the  same  military  precision  that 
had  marked  all  their  movements,  six  black  hands 
were  stretched  at  the  same  instant  over  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  sitting  passengers,  and  six  articles 
were  noiselessly  dropped  on  the  table ;  then,  with 
a  similar  motion,  the  six  black  hands  went  back  to 
their  respective  owners,  as  the  procession  moved 
along  behind  the  guests,  the  white-sleeved  arms 
and  black  hands  waving  in  the  air  and  keeping 
exact  time  as  the  procession  moved  around  the 
table. 

"  Looks  like  a  white-legged  centipede,"  muttered 
Sandy,  under  his  breath.  But  more  evolutions 
were  coming.  These  preliminaries  having  been 
finished,  the  solemn  procession  went  back  to  the 
kitchen  regions,  and  presently  came  forth  again, 
bearing  a  glittering  array  of  shining  metal  covered 


DOWN   THE  BIG  MUDDY.  219 

dishes.  At  the  tap  of  the  pompous  head-waiter's 
bell,  every  man  stood  at  "  present  arms,"  as  Oscar 
said.  Then,  at  another  tap,  each  dish  was  projected 
over  the  white  cloth  to  the  spot  for  which  it  was 
designed,  and  held  an  inch  or  two  above  the  table. 
Another  tap,  and  every  dish  dropped  into  its  place 
with  a  sound  as  of  one  soft  blow.  The  pompous 
head- waiter  struck  h  .,  bell  again,  and  every  dish- 
cover  was  touched  by  u  black  hand.  One  more 
jingle,  and,  with  nm0ACai  swiftness  and  deftness, 
each  dish-cover  was  lifted,  and  a  delightful  per- 
fume of  savory  viands  gushed  forth  amidst  the 
half-suppressed  "  Ahs  "  of  the  assembled  and  hun- 
gry diners.  Then  the  procession  of  dark-skinned 
waiters,  bearing  the  dish-covers,  filed  back  to  the 
pantry,  and  the  real  business  of  the  day  began. 
This  was  the  way  that  dinners  were  served  on  all 
the  first-rate  steamboats  on  Western  rivers  in  those 
days. 

To  hungry,  hearty  boys,  used  of  late  to  the 
rough  fare  of  the  frontier,  and  just  from  a  hard 
trip  in  an  ox-wagon,  with  very  short  rations  indeed, 
this  profusion  of  good  things  was  a  real  delight. 
Sandy's  mouth  watered,  but  he  gently  sighed  to 
himself,  "'Most  takes  away  my  appetite."  The 
polite,  even  servile,  waiters  pressed  the  lads  with 
the  best  of  everything  on  the  generous  board ; 
and  Sandy's  cup  of  happiness  was  full  when  a 
jolly  darky,  his  ebony  face  shining  with  good- 
nature, brought  him  some  frosted  cake,  charlotte 


220  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

russe,  and  spun  sugar  and  macaroons  from  one  of 
the  shattered  pyramids. 

"D'ye  s'pose  they  break  those  up  every  day?" 
whispered  Sandy  to  the  more  dignified  Charlie. 

"  Suttinly,  suh,"  replied  the  colored  man,  over- 
hearing the  question ;  "  suttinly,  suh.  Dis  yere 
boat  is  de  fastest  and  de  finest  on  de  Big  Muddy, 
young  gent;  an'  dere's  nuj  a'  in  dis  yere  worl' 
that  the  *  New  Lucy '  doan  nu-ve  on  her  table ;  an' 
doan  yer  fergit  it,  young  rL^s'r,"  he  added,  with 
respectful  pride  in  his  voice. 

"  My !  what  a  tuck-out !  I've  ate  and  ate  until 
I'm  fairly  fit  to  bust,"  said  Sandy,  as  the  three 
boys,  their  dinner  over,  sauntered  out  into  the 
open  air  and  beheld  the  banks  of  the  river  swiftly 
slipping  by  as  they  glided  down  the  stream. 

Just  then,  glancing  around,  his  eye  caught  the 
amused  smile  of  a  tall  and  lovely  lady  who  was 
standing  near  by,  chatting  with  two  or  three  rather 
superior-looking  young  people  whom  the  lad  had 
first  noticed  when  the  question  of  having  the  bag- 
gage brought  on  board  at  Leavenworth  was  under 
discussion.  Sandy's  brown  cheek  flushed ;  but  the 
pretty  lady,  extending  her  hand,  said :  "  Pardon 
my  smiling,  my  boy ;  but  I  have  a  dear  lad  at 
home  in  Baltimore  who  always  says  just  that  after 
his  Christmas  dinner,  and  sometimes  on  other 
occasions,  perhaps ;  and  his  name  is  Sandy,  too. 
I  think  I  heard  your  brother  call  you  Sandy? 
This  is  your  brother,  is  it  not?"  And  the  lady 
turned  towards  Charlie.  


DOWN   THE  BIG  MUDDY.  221 

The  lad  explained  the  relationship  of  the  little 
party,  and  the  lady  from  Baltimore  introduced  the 
members  of  her  party.  They  had  been  far  up  the 
river  to  Fort  Benton,  where  they  had  spent  some 
weeks  with  friends  who  were  in  the  military  gar- 
rison at  that  post.  The  young  men,  of  whom 
there  were  three  in  the  party,  had  been  out  hunt- 
ing for  buffalo,  elk,  and  other  big  game.  Had  the 
boys  ever  killed  any  buffalo  ?  The  pleasant-faced 
young  gentleman  who  asked  the  question  had 
noticed  that  they  had  a  full  supply  of  guns  when 
they  came  aboard  at  Leaven  worth. 

Yes,  they  had  killed  buffalo ;  at  least,  Sandy  had; 
and  the  youngster's  exploit  on  the  bluff  of  the 
Republican  Fork  was  glowingly  narrated  by  the 
generous  and  manly  Charlie.  This  story  broke 
the  ice  with  the  newly  met  voyagers  and,  before 
the  gong  sounded  for  supper,  the  Whittier  boys, 
as  they  still  called  themselves,  were  quite  as  well 
acquainted  with  the  party  from  Baltimore,  as  they 
thought,  as  they  would  have  been  if  they  had 
been  neighbors  and  friends  on  the  banks  of  the 
Republican. 

The  boys  looked  in  at  the  supper-table.  They 
only  looked;  for  although  the  short  autumnal 
afternoon  had  fled  swiftly  by  while  they  were  chat- 
ting with  their  new  friends  or  exploring  the  steam- 
boat, they  felt  that  they  could  not  possibly  take 
another  repast  so  soon  after  their  first  real  "  tuck- 
out  "  on  the  "  New  Lucy."  The  overloaded  table, 


222  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

shining  with  handsome  glass  and  china  and  decked 
with  fancy  cakes,  preserves,  and  sweetmeats,  had 
no  present  attractions  for  the  boys.  "It's  just  like 
after  Thanksgiving  dinner,"  said  Oscar.  "  Only 
we  are  far  from  home,"  he  added,  rather  soberly. 
And  when  the  lads  crawled  into  their  bunks,  as 
Sandy  insisted  upon  calling  their  berths,  it  would 
not  surprise  one  if  "thoughts  of  home  and  sighs 
disturbed  the  sleeper's  long-drawn  breath." 

Time  and  again,  in  the  night-watches,  the 
steamer  stopped  at  some  landing  by  the  river-side. 
Now  it  would  be  a  mere  wood-pile,  and  the  boat 
would  be  moored  to  a  cottonwood  tree  that  over- 
hung the  stream.  Torches  of  light-wood  burning 
in  iron  frames  at  the  end  of  a  staff  stuck  into  the 
ground  or  lashed  to  the  steamer  rail  shed  a  wild, 
weird  glare  on  the  hurrying  scene  as  the  rousta- 
bouts, or  deck-hands,  nimbly  lugged  the  wood  on 
board,  or  carried  the  cargo  ashore,  singing  plaintive 
melodies  as  they  worked.  Then  again,  the  steamer 
would  be  made  fast  to  a  wharf-boat  by  some  small 
town,  or  to  the  levee  of  a  larger  landing-place, 
and  goods  went  ashore,  passengers  flitted  on  and 
off,  baggage  was  transferred,  the  gang-plank  was 
hauled  in  with  prodigious  clatter,  the  engineer's 
bell  tinkled,  and,  with  a  great  snort  from  her 
engines,  the  "  New  Lucy  "  resumed  her  way  down 
the  river.  Few  passengers  but  those  who  were  to 
go  ashore  could  be  seen  on  the  upper  deck  view- 
ing  the  strange  sights  of  making  a  night-landing. 


DOWN   THE  BIG  MUDDY.  223 

And  through  the  whole  racket  and  din,  three  lads 
slept  the  sleep  of  the  young  and  the  innocent  in 
room  Number  56.  "  Just  the  number  of  the  year 
with  the  eighteen  knocked  off,"  Sandy  had  said 
when  they  were  assigned  to  it. 

When  the  boys  had  asked  in  Leavenworth  how 
long  the  trip  to  St.  Louis  would  be,  they  were  told, 
"Three  or  four  days,  if  the  water  holds."  This 
they  thought  rather  vague  information,  and  they 
had  only  a  dim  idea  of  what  the  man  meant  by  the 
water  holding.  They  soon  learned.  The  season 
had  been  dry  for  the  time  of  year.  Although  it 
was  now  November,  little  or  no  autumnal  rains 
had  fallen.  Passengers  from  Fort  Benton  said 
that  the  lands  on  the  Upper  Missouri  were  parched 
for  want  of  water,  and  the  sluggish  currents  of  the 
Big  Muddy  were  "as  slow  as  cold  molasses,"  as 
one  of  the  deck-hands  said  to  Sandy,  when  he  was 
peering  about  the  lower  deck  of  the  steamboat. 
It  began  to  look  as  if  the  water  would  not  hold. 

On  the  second  afternoon  out  of  Leavenworth, 
as  the  "  New  Lucy  "  was  gallantly  sweeping  around 
Prairie  Bend,  where  any  boat  going  down  stream 
is  headed  almost  due  north,  the  turn  in  the  river 
revealed  no  less  than  four  other  steamers  hard  and 
fast  on  the  shoals  that  now  plentifully  appeared 
above  the  surface  of  the  yellow  water.  Cautiously 
feeling  her  way  along  through  these  treacherous 
bars  and  sands,  the  "  New  Lucy,"  with  slackened 
speed,  moved  bravely  down  upon  the  stranded  fleet. 


224  THE  BOY  SETTLEE8. 

Anxious  passengers  clustered  on  the  forward  part 
of  the  steamer,  watching  the  course  of  events. 
With  many  a  cough  and  many  a  sigh,  the  boat 
swung  to  the  right  or  left,  obedient  to  her  helm, 
the  cry  of  the  man  heaving  the  lead  for  soundings 
telling  them  how  fast  the  water  shoaled  or  deep- 
ened as  they  moved  down  stream. 

"  We  are  bound  to  get  aground,"  said  Oscar,  as 
he  scanned  the  wide  river,  apparently  almost  bare 
to  its  bed.  "I  suppose  there  is  a  channel,  and 
I  suppose  that  pilot  up  there  in  the  pilot-house 
knows  where  it  is,  but  I  don't  see  any."  Just 
then  the  water  before  them  suddenly  shoaled,  there 
was  a  soft,  grating  sound,  a  thud,  and  the  boat 
stopped,  hard  and  fast  aground.  The  "  New  Lucy  " 
had  joined  the  fleet  of  belated  steamers  on  the 
shoals  of  Prairie  Bend. 

The  order  was  given  for  all  passengers  to  go  aft ; 
and  while  the  lads  were  wondering  what  they  were 
so  peremptorily  sent  astern  for,  they  saw  two  tall 
spars  that  had  been  carried  upright  at  the  bow  of 
the  boat  rigged  into  the  shape  of  a  V  upside  down, 
and  set  on  either  side  of  the  craft,  the  lower  ends 
resting  on  the  sand-bar  each  side  of  her.  A  big 
block  and  tackle  were  rigged  at  the  point  where 
the  spars  crossed  each  other  over  the  bow  of  the 
boat,  and  from  these  a  stout  cable  was  made  fast 
to  the  steamer's  "  nose,"  as  the  boys  heard  some- 
body call  the  extreme  point  of  the  bow. 

"  They  are  actually  going  to  hoist  this  boat  over 


VOWN   THE  BIG  MUDDY.  225 

the  sand-bar,"  said  Sandy,  excitedly,  as  they  viewed 
these  preparations  from  the  rear  of  the  boat. 

"That  is  exactly  what  they  are  going  to  do," 
said  the  pleasant-faced  young  man  from  Baltimore. 
"  Now,  then ! "  he  added,  with  the  air  of  one  en- 
couraging another,  as  the  crew,  laying  hold  of  the 
tackle,  and  singing  with  a  queer,  jerky  way,  began 
to  hoist.  This  would  not  avail.  The  nose  of  the 
boat  was  jammed  deep  into  the  sand,  and  so  the 
cable  was  led  back  to  a  windlass,  around  which  it 
was  carried.  Then,  the  windlass  being  worked  by 
steam,  the  hull  of  the  steamer  rose  very  slightly, 
and  the  bottom  of  the  bow  was  released  from  the 
river-bottom.  The  pilot  rang  his  bell,  the  engine 
puffed  and  clattered,  and  the  boat  crept  ahead  for 
a  few  feet,  and  then  came  to  rest  again.  That  was 
all  that  could  be  done  until  the  spars  were  reset 
further  forward  or  deep  water  was  reached.  It 
was  discouraging,  for  with  all  their  pulling  and 
hauling,  that  had  lasted  for  more  than  an  hour, 
they  had  made  only  four  or  five  feet  of  headway. 

"  At  the  rate  of  five  feet  an  hour,  how  long  will 
it  take  us  to  spar  our  way  down  to  St.  Louis?" 
asked  Charlie,  quizzically. 

"  Oh,  Charlie,"  cried  Sandy,  "  I  know  now  why 
the  clerk  said  that  there  were  plenty  of  fellows 
who  had  to  spar  their  way  on  the  river.  It  is  hard 
work  to  pull  this  steamer  over  the  sand-bars  and 
shoals,  and  when  a  man  is  busted  and  has  to  work 
his  way  along,  he's  like  a  steamboat  in  a  fix,  like 


226  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

this  one  is.  See?  That's  the  reason  why  they 
say  he  is  sparring  his  way,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"You  are  quite  correct,  youngster,"  said  the 
young  man  from  Baltimore,  regarding  Sandy's 
bright  face  with  pleasure.  "  Correct  you  are.  But 
I  never  knew  what  the  slang  meant  until  I  came 
out  here.  And,  for  that  matter,  I  don't  know  that 
I  ever  heard  the  slang  before.  But  it  is  the  jargon 
of  the  river  men." 

By  this  time,  even  sparring  was  of  very  little 
use,  for  the  spars  only  sank  deep  and  deeper  into 
the  soft  river-bottom,  and  there  was  no  chance  to 
raise  the  bow  of  the  boat  from  its  oozy  bed.  The 
case  for  the  present  was  hopeless;  but  the  crew 
were  kept  constantly  busy  until  nightfall,  pulling 
and  hauling.  Some  were  sent  ashore  in  a  skiff, 
with  a  big  hawser,  which  was  made  fast  to  a  tree, 
and  then  all  the  power  of  the  boat,  men  and  steam, 
was  put  upon  it  to  twist  her  nose  off  from  the 
shoal  into  which  it  was  stuck.  All  sorts  of  devices 
were  resorted  to,  and  a  small  gain  was  made  once 
in  a  while  ;  but  it  looked  very  much  as  if  the  cal- 
culation of  Charlie,  five  feet  in  an  hour,  was  too 
liberal  an  allowance  for  the  progress  towards  St. 
Louis. 

Just  then,  from  the  boat  furthest  down  the  river 
rose  a  cloud  of  steam,  and  the  astonished  lads 
heard  a  most  extraordinary  sound  like  that  of  a 
gigantic  organ.  More  or  less  wheezy,  but  still 
easily  to  be  understood,  the  well-known  notes  of 


DOWN   THE  BIG  MUDDY.  227 

*'  Oh,  Susannah ! "  came  floating  up  the  river  to 
them.  Everybody  paused  to  listen,  even  the  tired 
and  tugging  roustabouts  smiling  at  the  unwonted 
music. 

"  Is  it  really  music  ?  "  asked  Oscar,  whose  artis- 
tic ear  was  somewhat  offended  by  this  strange  roar 
of  sounds.  The  young  man  from  Baltimore  assured 
him  that  this  was  called  music;  the  music  of  a 
steam-organ  or  calliope,  then  a  new  invention  on 
the  Western  rivers.  He  explained  that  it  was  an 
instrument  made  of  a  series  of  steam-whistles  so 
arranged  that  a  man,  sitting  where  he  could  handle 
them  all  very  rapidly,  could  play  a  tune  on  them. 
The  player  had  only  to  know  the  key  to  which 
each  whistle  was  pitched,  and,  with  a  simple  ar- 
rangement of  notes  before  him,  he  could  make  a 
gigantic  melody  that  could  be  heard  for  many 
miles  away. 

"You  are  a  musician,  are  you  not?"  asked  the 
young  man  from  Baltimore.  "  Didn't  I  hear  you 
playing  a  violin  in  your  room  last  night  ?  Or  was 
it  one  of  your  brothers  ?  " 

Oscar,  having  blushingly  acknowledged  that  he 
was  playing  his  violin  for  the  benefit  of  his  cousins, 
as  he  explained,  his  new-found  acquaintance  said, 
"  I  play  the  flute  a  little,  and  we  might  try  some 
pieces  together  some  time,  if  you  are  willing." 

As  they  were  making  ready  for  bed  that  night, 
the  pleasant-faced  young  man  from  Baltimore,  who 
had  been  playing  whist  with  his  mother  and  sister, 


228  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

and  the  "  military  man,"  as  the  boys  had  privately 
named  one  of  the  party,  came  to  their  door  with 
his  flute.  The  two  musicians  were  fast  friends  at 
once.  Flute  and  violin  made  delicious  harmony, 
in  the  midst  of  which  Sandy,  who  had  slipped  into 
his  bunk,  drifted  off  into  the  land  of  dreams  with 
confused  notions  of  a  giant  band  somewhere  up 
in  the  sky  playing  "  Oh,  Susannah ! "  "  Lore's  Last 
Greeting,"  and  "  How  Can  I  Leave  Thee  ?  "  with 
occasional  suggestions  of  the  "  Song  of  the  Kansas 
Emigrants." 

Another  morning  came  on,  cold,  damp,  and  raw. 
The  sky  was  overcast  and  there  were  signs  of  rain. 
"There's  been  rain  to  the  nor'rard,"  said  Captain 
Bulger,  meditatively.  Now  Captain  Bulger  was 
the  skipper  of  the  "  New  Lucy,"  and  when  he 
said  those  oracular  words,  they  were  reported 
about  the  steamboat,  to  the  great  comfort  of  all  on 
board.  Still  the  five  boats  stuck  on  the  shoals ; 
their  crews  were  still  hard  at  work  at  all  the  de- 
vices that  could  be  thought  of  for  their  liberation. 
The  "War  Eagle" — for  they  had  found  out  the 
name  of  the  musical  steamer  far  down  stream — en- 
livened the  tedious  day  with  her  occasional  strains 
of  martial  and  popular  music,  if  the  steam-organ 
could  be  called  musical. 

In  the  afternoon,  Oscar  and  the  amiable  young 
man  from  Baltimore  shut  themselves  in  their  state- 
room and  played  the  flute  and  violin.  The  lovely 
lady  who  had  made  Sandy's  acquaintance  early  in 


THE  BIG  MUDDY.  229 

the  voyage  asked  him  if  he  could  make  one  at  a 
game  of  whist.  Sandy  replied  that  he  could  play 
"a  very  little."  The  thought  of  playing  cards 
here  on  a  steamboat,  in  public,  as  he  said  to  him- 
self, was  rather  frightful.  He  was  not  sure  if 
his  mother  would  like  to  have  him  do  that.  He 
looked  uneasily  around  to  see  what  Charlie  would 
say  about  it.  But  Charlie  was  nowhere  in  sight. 
He  was  wandering  around,  like  an  uneasy  ghost, 
watching  for  signs  of  the  rising  of  the  river,  now 
confidently  predicted  by  the  knowing  ones  among 
the  passengers. 

"  My  boys  all  play  whist,"  said  the  lady,  kindly ; 
"but  if  you  do  not  like  to  play,  I  will  not  urge 
you.  We  lack  one  of  making  up  a  party." 

Sandy  had  been  told  that  he  was  an  uncommonly 
good  player  for  one  so  young.  He  liked  the  game ; 
there  would  be  no  stakes,  of  course.  With  his 
ready  habit  of  making  up  his  mind,  he  brightly 
said,  "  I'll  play  if  you  like,  but  you  must  know  that 
I  am  only  a  youngster  and  not  a  first-rate  player." 
So  they  sat  down,  the  lovely  lady  from  Baltimore 
being  Sandy's  partner,  and  the  military  gentleman 
and  the  young  daughter  of  the  lady  from  Balti- 
more being  their  opponents.  Sandy  had  great 
good  luck.  The  very  best  cards  fell  to  him  con- 
tinually, and  he  thought  he  had  never  played  so 
well.  He  caught  occasional  strains  of  music  from 
room  Number  56,  and  he  was  glad  that  Oscar  was 
enjoying  himself.  From  time  to  time  the  lovely 


230  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

lady  who  was  his  partner  smiled  approvingly  at 
him,  and  once  in  a  while,  while  the  cards  were 
being  dealt,  she  said,  "How  divinely  those  dear 
boys  are  playing ! " 

The  afternoon  sped  on  delightfully,  and  Sandy's 
spirits  rose.  He  thought  it  would  be  fine  if  the 
"  New  Lucy "  should  stay  stuck  on  a  sand-bar  for 
days  and  days,  and  he  should  have  such  a  good 
game  of  whist,  with  the  lovely  lady  from  Baltimore 
for  a  partner.  But  the  military  gentleman  grew 
tired.  His  luck  was  very  poor,  and  when  the  ser- 
vants began  to  rattle  dishes  on  the  supper-table, 
he  suggested  that  it  would  be  just  as  well  perhaps 
if  they  did  not  play  too  much  now ;  they  would 
enjoy  the  game  better  later  on.  They  agreed  to 
stop  with  the  next  game. 

When  they  had  first  taken  their  places  at  the 
card-table,  the  military  gentleman  had  asked  Sandy 
if  he  had  any  cards,  and  when  he  replied  that  he 
had  none,  the  military  gentleman,  with  a  very 
lordly  air,  sent  one  of  the  cabin  waiters  to  the  bar 
for  a  pack  of  cards.  Now  that  they  were  through 
with  the  game,  Sandy  supposed  that  the  military 
gentleman  would  put  the  cards  into  his  pocket  and 
pay  for  them.  Instead  of  that  he  said,  "  Now,  my 
little  man,  we  will  saw  off  to  see  who  shall  pay 
for  the  cards." 

"Saw  off?"  asked  Sandy,  faintly,  with  a  dim 
notion  of  what  was  meant. 

"Yes,  my  lad,"   said   the   military  gentleman. 


DOWN   THE  BIG  MUDDY.  231 

"  We  will  play  one  hand  of  Old  Sledge  to  see  who 
shall  pay  for  the  cards  and  keep  them." 

With  a  sinking  heart,  but  with  a  brave  face, 
Sandy  took  up  the  cards  dealt  to  him  and  began 
to  play.  It  was  soon  over.  Sandy  won  one  point 
in  the  hand ;  the  military  gentleman  had  the  other 
three. 

"  Take  care  of  your  cards,  my  son,"  said  the 
military  gentleman ;  "  we  may  want  them  again. 
They  charge  the  extravagant  price  of  six  bits  for 
them  on  this  boat,  and  these  will  last  us  to  St. 
Louis." 

Six  bits !  Seventy-five  cents !  And  poor  Sandy 
had  only  twenty-five  cents  in  his  pocket.  That 
silver  quarter  represented  the  entire  capital  of  the 
Boy  Settlers  from  Kansas.  Looking  up,  he  saw 
Charlie  regarding  him  with  reproachful  eyes  from 
a  corner  of  the  saloon.  With  great  carefulness,  he 
gathered  up  his  cards  and  rose,  revolving  in  his 
mind  the  awful  problem  of  paying  for  seventy-five 
cents'  worth  of  cards  with  twenty-five  cents. 

"  Well,  you've  got  yourself  into  a  nice  scrape," 
tragically  whispered  Charlie,  in  his  ear,  as  soon  as 
the  two  boys  were  out  of  earshot  of  the  others. 
"  What  are  you  going  to  do  now  ?  You  can  spar 
your  way  down  to  St.  Louis,  but  you  can't  spar 
your  way  with  that  barkeeper  for  a  pack  of  cards." 

"Let  me  alone,  Charlie,"  said  Sandy,  testily. 
"You  haven't  got  to  pay  for  these  cards.  I'll 
manage  it  somehow.  Don't  you  worry  yourself 
the  least  bit." 


$82  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

"  Serves  you  right  for  gambling.  What  would 
mother  say  if  she  knew  it?  If  you  hadn't  been  so 
ready  to  show  off  your  whist-playing  before  these 
strangers,  you  wouldn't  have  got  into  such  a  box." 

"I  didn't  gamble,"  replied  Sandy,  hotly.  "It 
isn't  gambling  to  play  a  hand  to  see  who  shall  pay 
for  the  cards.  All  men  do  that.  I  have  seen 
daddy  roll  a  game  of  tenpins  to  see  who  should 
pay  for  the  alley." 

"I  don't  care  for  that.  It  is  gambling  to  play 
for  the  leastest  thing  as  a  stake.  Nice  fellow  you 
are,  sitting  down  to  play  a  hand  of  seven-up  for 
the  price  of  a  pack  of  cards !  Six  bits  at  that ! " 

"  A  nice  brotherly  brother  you  are  to  nag  me 
about  those  confounded  cards,  instead  of  helping  a 
fellow  out  when  he  is  down  on  his  luck." 

Charlie,  a  little  conscience-stricken,  held  his 
peace,  while  Sandy  broke  away  from  him,  and 
rushed  out  into  the  chilly  air  of  the  after-deck. 
There  was  no  sympathy  in  the  dark  and  murky 
river,  none  in  the  forlorn  shore,  where  rows  of 
straggling  cottonwoods  leaned  over  and  swept 
their  muddy  arms  in  the  muddy  water.  Looking 
around  for  a  ray  of  hope,  a  bright  idea  struck  him. 
He  could  but  try  one  chance.  The  bar  of  the  "New 
Lucy  "  was  a  very  respectable-looking  affair,  as  bars 
go.  It  opened  into  the  saloon  cabin  of  the  steamer 
on  its  inner  side,  but  in  the  rear  was  a  small  window 
where  the  deck  passengers  sneaked  up,  from  tim« 
to  time,  and  bought  whatever  they  wanted,  and  then 


DOWN  THE  BIG  MUDDY.  233 

quietly  slipped  away  again,  unseen  by  the  more 
"  high-toned  "  passengers  in  the  cabin.  Summon- 
ing all  his  courage  and  assurance,  the  boy  stepped 
briskly  to  this  outside  opening,  and,  leaning  his 
arms  jauntily  on  the  window-ledge,  said,  "See 
here,  cap,  I  owe  you  for  a  pack  of  cards." 

"  Yep,"  replied  the  barkeeper,  holding  a  bottle 
between  his  eye  and  the  light,  and  measuring  its 
contents. 

This  was  not  encouraging.  Sandy,  with  a  little 
effort,  went  on :  "  You  see  vie  fellows,  three  of  us, 
are  sparring  our  way  down  to  St.  Louis.  We  have 
got  trusted  for  our  passage.  We've  friends  in  St. 
Louis,  and  when  we  get  there  we  shall  be  in  funds. 
Our  luggage  is  in  pawn  for  our  passage  money. 
When  we  come  down  to  get  our  luggage,  I  will 
pay  you  the  six  bits  I  owe  you  for  the  cards.  Is 
that  all  right?" 

"  Yep,"  said  the  barkeeper,  and  he  set  the  bottle 
down.  As  the  lad  went  away  from  the  window, 
with  a  great  load  lifted  from  his  heart,  the  bar- 
keeper put  his  head  out  of  the  opening,  looked 
after  him,  smiled,  and  said,  "  That  boy'll  do." 

When  Sandy  joined  his  brother,  who  was  wist- 
fully watching  for  him,  he  said,  a  little  less  boast- 
fully than  might  have  been  expected  of  him, 
"That's  all  right,  Charlie.  The  barkeeper  says 
he  will  trust  me  until  we  get  to  St.  Louis  and 
come  aboard  to  get  the  luggage.  He's  a  good 
fellow,  even  if  he  did  say  •  yep '  instead  of  '  yes ' 
when  I  asked  him."* 


234  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

In  reply  to  Charlie's  eager  questions,  Sandy  re- 
lated all  that  had  happened,  and  Charlie,  with 
secret  admiration  for  his  small  brother's  knack  of 
"  cheeking  it  through,"  as  he  expressed  it,  forbore 
any  further  remarks. 

"  I  do  believe  the  water  is  really  rising ! "  ex- 
claimed the  irrepressible  youngster,  who,  now  that 
his  latest  trouble  was  fairly  over,  was  already 
thinking  of  something  else.  "  Look  at  that  log. 
When  I  came  out  here  just  after  breakfast,  this 
morning,  it  was  high  and  dry  on  that  shoal. 
Now  one  end  of  it  is  afloat.  See  it  bob  up  and 
•down  ?  " 

Full  of  the  good  news,  the  lads  went  hurriedly 
forward  to  find  Oscar,  who,  with  his  friend  from 
Baltimore,  was  regarding  the  darkening  scene  from 
the  other  part  of  the  boat. 

"  She's  moving ! "  excitedly  cried  Oscar,  pointing 
'his  finger  at  the  "  War  Eagle  "  ;  and,  as  he  spoke, 
that  steamer  slid  slowly  off  the  sand-bar,  and  with 
her  steam-organ  playing  triumphantly  "  Oh,  aren't 
you  glad  you're  out  of  the  Wilderness ! "  a  well- 
known  air  in  those  days,  she  steamed  steadily  down 
stream.  From  all  the  other  boats,  still  stranded 
though  they  were,  loud  cheers  greeted  the  first  to 
be  released  from  the  long  embargo.  Presently 
another,  the  "Thomas  H.  Benton,"  slid  off,  and 
churning  the  water  with  her  wheels  like  a  mad 
thing,  took  her  way  down  the  river.  All  these 
boats  were  flat-bottomed  and,  as  the  saying  was, 


DOWN   THE  BIG  MUDDY.  235 

"could  go  anywhere  if  the  ground  was  a  little 
damp."  A  rise  of  a  very  few  inches  of  water  wa» 
sufficient  to  float  any  one  of  them.  And,  in  the 
course  of  a  half-hour,  the  "  New  Lucy,"  to  the 
great  joy  of  her  passengers,  with  one  more  hoist  on 
her  forward  spars,  was  once  more  in  motion,  and 
she  too  went  gayly  steaming  down  the  river,  her 
less  fortunate  companions  who  were  still  aground 
cheering  her  as  she  glided  along  the  tortuous 
channel. 

"  Well,  that  was  worth  waiting  some  day  or  two. 
to  see,"  said  Oscar,  drawing  a  long  breath.  "  Just 
listen  to  that  snorting  calliope,  playing  '  Home, 
Sweet  Home '  as  they  go  prancing  down  the  Big 
Muddy.  I  shall  never  forget  her  playing  that 
4  Out  of  the  Wilderness '  as  she  tore  out  of  those 
shoals.  It's  a  pretty  good  tune,  after  all,  and  the 
steam-organ  is  not  so  bad  now  that  you  hear  it  at 
a  distance." 


THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

STRA1TOED  NEAR  HOME. 

IT  was  after  dark,  on  a  Saturday  evening,  when 
the  "New  Lucy"  landed  her  passengers  at  the 
levee,  St.  Louis.  They  should  have  been  in  the 
city  several  hours  earlier,  and  they  had  expected 
to  arrive  by  daylight.  The  lads  marvelled  much 
at  the  sight  of  the  muddy  waters  of  the  Missouri 
running  into  the  pure  currents  of  the  Mississippi, 
twenty  miles  above  St.  Louis,  the  two  streams 
joining  but  not  mingling,  the  yellow  streak  of  the 
Big  Muddy  remaining  separate  and  distinct  from 
the  flow  of  the  Mississippi  for  a  long  distance  be- 
low the  joining  of  the  two.  They  had  also  found 
new  enjoyment  in  the  sight  of  the  great,  many- 
storied  steamboats  with  which  the  view  was  now 
diversified  as  they  drew  nearer  the  beautiful  city 
which  had  so  long  been  the  object  of  their  hopes 
and  longings.  They  could  not  help  thinking,  as 
they  looked  at  the  crowded  levee,  solid  buildings, 
and  slender  church  spires,  that  all  this  was  a 
strange  contrast  to  the  lonely  prairie  and  wide, 
trackless  spaces  of  their  old  horn*1  on  iii.  oanks  of 
the  distant  Kansas  stream.  The  Rf.ublica^  Fork 


STRANDED  NEAR  HOME.  28* 

seemed  to  them  like  a  far-off  dream,  it  was  so  very- 
distant  to  them  now. 

"  Where  are  you  young  fellows  going  to  stop  in 
St.  Louis?"  asked  the  pleasant-faced  young  man 
from  Baltimore. 

The  lads  had  scarcely  thought  of  that,  and  here 
was  the  city,  the  strange  city  in  which  they  knew 
nobody,  in  full  sight.  They  exchanged  looks  of 
dismay,  Sandy's  face  wearing  an  odd  look  of 
amusement  and  apprehension  mixed.  Charlie 
timidly  asked  what  hotels  were  the  best.  The 
young  man  from  Baltimore  named  two  or  three 
which  he  said  were  "first-class,"  and  Charlie 
thought  to  himself  that  they  must  avoid  those. 
They  had  no  money  to  pay  for  their  lodging,  no 
baggage  as  security  for  their  payment. 

As  soon  as  they  could  get  away  by  themselves, 
they  held  a  council  to  determine  what  was  to  be 
done.  They  had  the  business  address  of  their 
uncle,  Oscar  Bryant,  of  the  firm  of  Bryant,  Wilder 
&  Co.,  wholesale  dealers  in  agricultural  imple- 
ments, Front  Street.  But  they  knew  enough 
about  city  life  to  know  that  it  would  be  hopeless 
to  look  for  him  in  his  store  at  night.  It  would  be 
nearly  nine  o'clock  before  they  could  reach  any 
hotel.  What  was  to  be  done?  Charlie  was  cer- 
tain that  no  hotel  clerk  would  be  willing  to  give 
them  board  and  lodging,  penniless  wanderers  as 
they  were,  with  nothing  but  one  small  valise  to 
answer  as  luggage  for  the  party.  They  could 
have  no  money  until  they  found  their  uncle. 


238  THE  SOT  SETTLERS. 

Before  they  could  make  up  their  minds  what  to 
do,  or  which  way  to  turn,  the  boat  had  made  her 
landing  and  was  blowing  off  steam  at  the  levee. 
The  crowds  of  passengers,  glad  to  escape  from  the 
narrow  limits  of  the  steamer,  were  hurrying  ashore. 
The  three  homeless  and  houseless  lads  were  car- 
ried resistlessly  along  with  the  crowd.  Charlie 
regretted  that  they  had  not  asked  if  they  could 
stay  on  the  boat  until  Sunday  morning.  But 
Sandy  and  Oscar  both  scouted  such  a  confession 
of  their  poverty.  "Besides,"  said  Sandy,  "it  is 
not  likely  that  they  would  keep  any  passengers  on 
board  here  at  the  levee." 

"Ride  up?  Free  'bus  to  the  Planters'!"  cried 
one  of  the  runners  on  the  levee,  and  before  the 
other  two  lads  could  collect  their  thoughts,  the 
energetic  Sandy  had  drawn  them  into  the  omnibus, 
and  they  were  on  their  way  to  an  uptown  hotel. 
When  the  driver  had  asked  where  their  baggage 
was,  Sandy,  who  was  ready  to  take  command  of 
things,  had  airily  answered  that  they  would  have 
it  sent  up  from  the  steamer.  There  were  other 
passengers  in  the  'bus,  and  Charlie,  anxious  and 
distressed,  had  no  chance  to  remonstrate  ;  they  were 
soon  rattling  and  grinding  over  the  pavements 
of  St.  Louis.  The  novelty  of  the  ride  and  the 
glitter  of  the  brightly  lighted  shops  in  which 
crowds  of  people  were  doing  their  Saturday-night 
buying,  diverted  their  attention  for  a  time.  Then 
the  omnibus  backed  up  before  a  handsome  hotel, 


STRANDED  NEAE  HOME.  239 

and  numerous  colored  men  came  hurrying  down 
the  steps  of  the  grand  entrance  to  wait  upon  the 
new  arrivals.  With  much  ceremony  and  obsequi- 
ousness, the  three  young  travellers  were  ushered 
into  the  office,  where  they  wrote  their  names  in 
a  big  book,  and  were  escorted  to  a  large  and  ele- 
gant room,  in  which  were  ample,  even  luxurious, 
sleeping  accommodations  for  the  trio. 

The  colored  porter  assiduously  brushed  off  the 
clothing  of  the  lads.  "Baggage?"  the  clerk  at 
the  desk  had  asked  when  they  registered.  "  Bag- 
gage, sah  ?  "  the  waiter  asked  again,  as  he  dusted 
briskly  the  jackets  of  the  three  guests.  Neither 
Charlie  nor  Oscar  had  the  heart  to  make  reply 
to  this  very  natural  question.  It  was  Sandy  who 
said:  "We  will  not  have  our  baggage  up  from 
the  steamer  to-night.  We  are  going  right  on  up 
north/' 

But  when  Sandy  tipped  the  expectant  waiter 
with  the  long-treasured  silver  quarter  of  a  dollar, 
Charlie  fairly  groaned,  and  sinking  into  a  chair  as 
the  door  closed,  said,  "Our  last  quarter!  Great 
Scott,  Sandy !  are  you  crazy  ?  " 

Sandy,  seeing  that  there  was  no  help  for  it, 
put  on  a  bold  front,  and  insisted  that  they  must 
keep  up  appearances  to  the  last.  He  would  hunt 
up  Uncle  Oscar's  place  of  abode  in  the  city  direc- 
tory after  supper,  and  bright  and  early  Sunday 
morning  he  would  go  and  see  him.  They  would 
be  all  right  then.  What  use  was  that  confounded 


240  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

old  quarter,  anyhow?  They  might  as  well  stand 
well  with  the  waiter.  He  might  be  useful  to  them. 
Twenty-five  cents  would  not  pay  their  hotel  bill ; 
it  would  not  buy  anything  they  needed  in  St. 
Louis.  The  darky  might  as  well  have  it. 

"And  this  is  one  of  the  swellest  and  most  ex 
pensive  hotels  in  the  city,"  cried  Charlie,  eyeing 
the  costly  furniture  and  fittings  of  the  room  in 
which  they  were  lodged.  "I  just  think  that  we 
are  travelling  under  false  pretences,  putting  up  at 
an  expensive  house  like  this  without  a  cent  in  our 
pockets.  Not  one  cent !  What  will  you  do,  you 
cheeky  boy,  if  they  ask  us  for  our  board  in  ad- 
vance? I  have  heard  that  they  always  do  that 
with  travellers  who  have  no  baggage." 

"Well,  I  don't  know  what  we  will  do,"  said 
Sandy,  doggedly.  "  Suppose  we  wait  until  they 
ask  us.  There'll  be  time  enough  to  decide  when 
we  are  dunned  for  our  bill.  I  suppose  the  honest- 
est  thing  would  be  to  own  right  up  and  tell  the 
whole  truth.  It's  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of.  Lots 
of  people  have  to  do  that  sort  of  thing  when  they 
get  into  a  tight  place." 

"  But  I'm  really  afraid,  Sandy,  that  they  won't 
believe  us,"  said  the  practical  Oscar.  "  The  world 
is  full  of  swindlers  as  well  as  of  honest  fellows. 
They  might  put  us  out  as  adventurers." 

"  We  are  not  adventurers  !  "  cried  Sandy,  indig- 
nantly. "  We  are  gentlemen  when  we  are  at  home, 
able  to  pay  our  debts.  We  are  overtaken  by  an 


STRANDED  NEAR   HOME.  241 

accident,"  he  added,  chuckling  to  himself.  "  Dis- 
tressed gentlemen,  don't  you  see  ?  " 

"  But  we  might  have  gone  to  a  cheaper  place," 
moaned  Charlie.  "  Here  we  are  in  the  highest- 
prced  hotel  in  St.  Louis.  I  know  it,  for  I  heard 
that  Baltimore  chap  say  so.  We  might  have  put 
up  at  some  third-rate  house,  anyhow." 

"  But  it  is  the  third-rate  house  that  asks  you  for 
your  baggage,  and  makes  you  pay  in  advance  if 
you  don't  have  any,"  cried  Sandy,  triumphantly. 
"  I  don't  believe  that  a  high-toned  hotel  like  this 
duns  people  in  advance  for  their  board,  especially 
if  it  is  a  casual  traveller,  such  as  we  are.  Any- 
how, they  haven't  dunned  us  yet,  and  when  they 
do,  I'll  engage  to  see  the  party  through,  Master 
Charlie ;  so  you  set  your  mind  at  rest."  As  for 
Charlie,  he  insisted  that  he  would  keep  out  of  the 
sight  of  the  hotel  clerk,  until  relief  came  in  the 
shape  of  money  to  pay  their  bill. 

Oscar,  who  had  been  reading  attentively  a  printed 
card  tacked  to  the  door  of  the  room,  broke  in  with 
the  declaration  that  he  was  hungry,  and  that  sup- 
per was  served  until  ten  o'clock  at  night.  The 
others  might  talk  all  night,  for  all  he  cared;  he 
intended  to  have  some  supper.  There  was  no  use 
arguing  about  the  chances  of  being  dunned  for 
their  board ;  the  best  thing  he  could  think  of  was 
to  have  some  board  before  he  was  asked  to  pay  for 
it.  And  he  read  out  the  list  of  hours  for  dinner, 
breakfast,  and  supper  from  the  card. 


242  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

"  There  is  merit  in  your  suggestion,"  said  Chap 
lie,  with  a  grim  smile.  "The  dead-broke  Boy 
Settlers  from  the  roaring  Republican  Fork  will 
descend  to  the  banquet-hall."  Charlie  was  recov- 
ering his  spirits  under  Oscar's  cool  and  unconcerned 
advice  to  have  board  before  being  in  the  way  of 
paying  for  it. 

After  supper,  the  lads,  feeling  more  cheerful 
than  before,  sauntered  up  to  the  clerk's  desk,  and 
inspected  the  directory  of  the  city.  They  found 
their  uncle's  name  and  address,  and  it  gave  them 
a  gleam  of  pleasure  to  see  his  well-remembered 
business  card  printed  on  the  page  opposite.  Under 
the  street  address  was  printed  Mr.  Bryant's  place 
of  residence,  thus :  "  h.  at  Hyde  Park." 

"Where's  that?"  asked  Sandy,  confidently,  of 
the  clerk. 

"  Oh !  that's  out  of  the  city  a  few  miles.  You 
can  ride  out  there  in  the  stage.  Only  costs  you  a 
quarter." 

Only  a  quarter !  And  the  last  quarter  had  gone 
to  the  colored  boy  with  the  whisk-broom. 

"  Here's  a  go ! "  said  Sandy,  for  once  a  little  cast 
down.  "  We  might  walk  it,"  Oscar  whispered,  as 
they  moved  away  from  the  desk.  But  to  this 
Charlie,  asserting  the  authority  of  an  elder  brother, 
steadfastly  objected.  He  knew  his  Uncle  Oscar 
better  than  the  younger  boys  did.  He  remembered 
that  he  was  a  very  precise  and  dignified  elderly 
gentleman.  He  would  be  scandalized  greatly  if 


STRANDED  NEAR  HOME.  243 

his  three  wandering  nephews  should  come  tramp- 
ing out  to  his  handsome  villa  on  a  Sunday,  like 
three  vagabonds,  to  borrow  money  enough  to  get 
home  to  Dixon  with.  No ;  that  was  not  to  be 
thought  of.  Charlie  said  he  would  pawn  his  watch 
on  Monday  morning ;  he  would  walk  the  streets  to 
keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  much-dreaded  hotel 
clerk  ;  but,  as  for  trudging  out  to  his  Uncle  Oscar's 
on  Sunday,  he  would  not  do  it,  nor  should  either 
of  the  others  stir  a  step.  So  they  went  to  bed,  and 
slept  as  comfortably  in  their  luxurious  apartment 
as  if  they  had  never  known  anything  less  hand- 
some, and  had  money  in  plenty  to  pay  all  demands 
at  sight. 

It  was  a  cloudy  and  chilly  November  Sunday  to 
which  the  boys  awoke  next  day.  The  air  was 
piercingly  raw,  and  the  city  looked  dust-colored 
and  cheerless  under  the  cold,  gray  sky.  Breaking 
their  fast  (Charlie  keeping  one  eye  on  the  hotel 
office),  they  sallied  forth  to  see  the  city.  They 
saw  it  all  over,  from  one  end  to  the  other.  They 
walked  and  walked,  and  then  went  back  to  the 
hotel ;  and  after  dinner,  walked  and  walked  again. 
They  hunted  up  their  uncle's  store  in  one  of  the 
deserted  business  streets  of  the  city;  and  they 
gazed  at  its  exterior  with  a  curious  feeling  of 
relief.  There  was  the  sign  on  the  prosperous-look- 
ing outside  of  the  building,  — "  Oscar  G.  Bryant 
&  Co.,  Agricultural  Implements."  There,  at  least, 
was  a  gleam  of  comfort.  The  store  was  a  real 


244  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

thing.  Their  uncle,  little  though  they  knew  about 
him,  was  a  real  man. 

Then,  as  the  evening  twilight  gathered,  they 
walked  out  to  the  borders  of  the  suburb  where  he 
lived.  They  did  not  venture  into  the  avenue  where 
they  had  been  told  his  house  was,  vaguely  fearing 
that  he  might  meet  and  recognize  them.  As  they 
turned  their  steps  towards  the  hotel,  Oscar  said: 
"  It's  lucky  there  are  three  of  us  to  keep  ourselves 
in  countenance.  If  that  wasn't  the  case,  it  would 
be  awfully  lonely  to  think  we  were  so  near  home, 
and  yet  have  gone  ashore,  hard  and  fast  aground ; 
right  in  sight  of  port,  as  it  were." 

The  parents  of  these  boys  had  been  born  and 
brought  up  near  the  seacoast  of  New  England,  and 
not  a  few  marine  figures  of  speech  were  mingled 
in  the  family  talk.  So  Charlie  took  up  the  parable 
and  gloomily  said :  "  We  are  as  good  as  castaways 
in  this  big  ocean  of  a  city,  with  never  a  soul  to 
throw  us  a  spar  or  give  us  a  hand.  I  never  felt  so 
blue  in  all  my  life.  Look  at  those  children  play- 
ing in  that  dooryard.  Pretty  poor-looking  children 
they  are  ;  but  they've  got  a  home  over  their  heads 
to-night.  We  haven't." 

"  Oh,  pshaw,  Charlie ! "  broke  in  Sandy ;  "  why 
will  you  always  look  on  the  dark  side  of  things  ? 
I  know  it's  real  lonesome  here  in  a  strange  city, 
and  away  from  our  own  folks.  But  they  are  not 
so  far  away  but  what  we  can  get  to  them  after  a 
while.  And  we  have  got  a  roof  over  our  heads  for 


STRANDED  NEAR  HOME.  245 

to-night,  anyway ;  the  Planters'  is  good  enough  for 
me  ;  if  you  want  anything  better,  you  will  have  to 
get  outside  of  St.  Louis  for  it ;  and,  what  is  more, 
they  are  not  going  to  dun  us  for  our  board  bill 
until  after  to-day.  I'm  clean  beat  out  traipsing 
around  this  town,  and  I  give  you  two  fellows 
notice  that  I  am  not  going  to  stir  a  step  out  of  the 
hotel  to-night.  Unless  it  is  to  go  to  church,"  he 
added  by  way  of  postscript. 

They  did  go  to  church  that  night,  after  they  had 
had  their  supper.  It  was  a  big,  comfortable,  and 
roomy  church,  and  the  lads  were  shown  into  a  cor- 
ner pew  under  the  gallery,  where  they  were  not 
conspicuous.  The  music  of  choir  and  organ  was 
soothing  and  comforting.  One  of  the  tunes  sung 
was  "  Dundee,"  and  each  boy  thought  of  their  sing- 
ing the  song  of  "  The  Kansas  Emigrants,"  as  the 
warbling  measures  drifted  down  to  them  from  the 
organ-loft,  lifting  their  hearts  with  thoughts  that 
the  strangers  about  them  knew  nothing  of.  The 
preacher's  text  was  "In  my  father's  house  are 
many  mansions."  Then  they  looked  at  each 
other  again,  as  if  to  say,  "  That's  a  nice  text  for 
three  homeless  boys  in  a  strange  city."  But  nobody 
even  so  much  as  whispered. 

Later  on  in  the  sermon,  when  the  preacher 
touched  a  tender  chord  in  Oscar's  heart,  alluding 
to  home  and  friends,  and  to  those  who  wander  far 
from  both,  the  lad,  with  a  little  moisture  in  his 
eyes,  turned  to  look  at  Sandy.  He  was  fast  asleep 


246  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

in  his  snug  corner.  Oscar  made  a  motion  to  wake 
him,  but  Charlie  leaned  over  and  said,  "  Leave  the 
poor  boy  alone.  He's  tired  with  his  long  tramp 
to-day."  When  they  went  out  after  the  service 
was  over,  Oscar  rallied  Sandy  on  his  sleeping  in 
church,  and  the  lad  replied:  "I  know  it  was  bad 
manners,  but  the  last  thing  I  heard  the  minister 
say,  was  '  Rest  for  the  weary.'  I  thought  that  was 
meant  for  me.  Leastways,  I  found  rest  for  jhe 
weary  right  off,  and  I  guess  there  was  no  harm 
done." 

With  Monday  morning  came  sunshine  and  a 
clear  and  bracing  air.  Even  Charlie's  face  wore  a 
cheerful  look,  the  first  that  he  had  put  on  since 
arriving  in  St.  Louis,  although  now  and  again  his 
heart  quaked  as  he  heard  the  hotel  porter's  voice 
in  the  hall  roaring  out  the  time  of  departure  for 
the  trains  that  now  began  to  move  from  the  city 
in  all  directions.  They  had  studied  the  railroad 
advertisements  and  time-tables  to  some  purpose, 
and  had  discovered  that  they  must  cross  to  East 
St.  Louis,  on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  there  take  a  train  for  the  northern  part 
of  the  State,  where  Dixon  is  situated.  But  they 
must  first  see  their  Uncle  Oscar,  borrow  the  needed 
money  from  him,  settle  with  the  steamboat  people 
and  the  hotel,  and  then  get  to  the  railroad  station 
by  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  It  was  a  big 
morning's  work. 

They  were  at  their  uncle's  store  before  he  arrived 


NEAE  HOME.  247 

from  nis  suburban  home ;  and,  while  they  waited, 
they  whisperingly  discussed  the  question,  Who 
should  ask  for  the  money?  Charlie  was  at  first 
disposed  to  put  this  duty  on  Sandy ;  but  the  other 
two  boys  were  very  sure  that  it  would  not  look 
well  for  the  youngest  of  the  party  to  be  the  leader 
on  an  occasion  so  important;  and  Charlie  was 
appointed  spokesman. 

Mr.  Oscar  Bryant  came  in.  He  was  very  much 
surprised  to  see  three  strange  lads  drawn  up  in  a 
row  to  receive  him.  And  he  was  still  more  taken 
aback  when  he  learned  that  they  were  his  nephews, 
on  their  way  home  from  Kansas.  He  had  heard 
of  his  brother's  going  out  to  Kansas,  and  he  had 
not  approved  of  it  at  all.  He  was  inclined  to 
think  that,  on  the  whole,  it  would  be  better  for 
Kansas  to  have  slavery  than  to  do  without  it.  A 
great  many  other  people  in  St.  Louis  thought  the 
same  way,  at  that  time,  although  some  of  them 
changed  their  minds  later  on. 

Mr.  Oscar  Bryant  was  a  tall,  spruce-looking,  and 
severe  man  in  appearance.  His  hair  was  gray  and 
brushed  stiffly  back  from  his  forehead;  and  his 
precise,  thin,  white  whiskers  were  cut  "  just  like  a 
minister's,"  as  Sandy  afterwards  declared;  and 
when  he  said  that  going  to  Kansas  to  make  it  a 
free  State  was  simply  the  rankest  kind  of  folly, 
Charlie's  heart  sunk,  and  he  thought  to  himself 
iJaat  the  chance  of  borrowing  money  from  their 
stern-looking  uncle  was  rather  slim. 


248  THE  EOT  SETTLERS. 

"  But  it  doesn't  make  any  difference  to  you  boys 
whether  slavery  is  voted  ap  or  down  in  Kansas,  I 
suppose,"  he  continued,  less  sternly.  "You  will 
live  to  see  the  day  when,  if  you  live  in  Kansas, 
you  will  own  slaves  and  work  them.  You  can 
never  clear  up  a  wild  country  like  that  without 
slave-labor,  depend  upon  it.  I  know  what  I  am 
talking  about."  And  Uncle  Oscar  stroked  his  chin 
in  a  self-satisfied  way,  as  if  he  had  settled  the 
whole  Kansas-Nebraska  question  in  his  own  man- 
ner of  thinking.  Sandy's  brown  cheeks  flushed 
and  his  eyes  sparkled.  He  was  about  to  burst  out 
with  an  indignant  word,  when  Charlie,  alarmed  by 
his  small  brother's  exoited  looks,  blurted  out  their 
troubles  at  once,  in  order  to  head  off  the  protest 
that  he  expected  from  Sandy.  The  lad  was  silent. 

"Eh?  what's  that?"  asked  the  formal-looking 
merchant.  "  Busted  ?  And  away  from  home  ? 
Why,  certainly,  my  lads.  How  much  do  you 
need?"  And  he  opened  his  pocket-book  at  once. 
Greatly  relieved,  perhaps  surprised,  Charlie  told 
him  that  they  thought  that  fifty  dollars  would  pay 
all  their  bills  and  get  them  back  to  Dixon.  The 
money  was  promptly  handed  over,  and  Charlie, 
emboldened  by  this  good  nature,  told  his  uncle 
that  they  still  owed  for  their  passage  down  the 
river  from  Leavenworth. 

"  And  did  they  really  trust  you  three  boys  for 
your  passage-money?  How  did  that  happen?" 
asked  the  merchant,  with  admiration. 


STRANDED  NEAR  HOME.  249 

Charlie,  as  spokesman,  explained  that  Sandy 
had  "sparred"  their  way  for  them;  and  when  he 
had  told  how  Sandy  still  owed  for  a  pack  of  cards, 
and  how  it  was  his  honest  face  and  candid  way  of 
doing  things  that  had  brought  them  thus  far  on 
their  homeward  journey,  Uncle  Oscar,  laughing 
heartily  and  quite  unbending  from  his  formal  and 
dry  way  of  talking,  said,  "Well  done,  my  little 
red-hot  Abolitionist ;  you'll  get  through  this  world, 
I'll  be  bound."  He  bade  the  wanderers  farewell 
and  goodspeed  with  much  impressiyeness  and  sent 
messages  of  good-will  to  their  parents. 

"How  do  you  suppose  Uncle  Oscar  knew  I  was 
an  Abolhionist  ?  "  demanded  Sandy,  as  soon  as 
they  were  out  of  earshot.  "  I'm  not  an  Abolition- 
ist, anyhow." 

"  Woll,  you're  a  free-State  man ;  and  that's  the 
same  thing,"  said  Charlie.  "A  free-State  boy," 
added  Oscar. 

With  a  proud  heart  the  cashier  of  the  Boy  Set- 
tlers paid  their  bill  at  the  hotel,  and  reclaimed 
their  valise  from  the  porter,  with  whom  they  had 
lodged  it  in  the  morning  before  going  out.  Then 
they  hurried  to  the  levee,  and,  to  their  surprise, 
found  that  the  little  steamer  that  conveyed  passen- 
gers across  the  river  to  the  East  St.  Louis  rail- 
way station  lay  close  alongside  the  "  New  Lucy." 
Their  task  of  transferring  the  baggage  was  easy. 

"Say,  Sandy,  you  made  the  bargain  with  the 
clerk  to  bring  us  down  here  on  the  security  of  our 


250  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

luggage ;  it's  nothing  more  than  business-like  that 
you  should  pay  him  what  we  owe,"  said  Charlie. 

"Right  you  are,  Charlie,"  added  Oscar,  "and 
it's  fair  that  Sandy,  who  has  had  the  bother  of 
sparring  our  way  for  us,  should  have  the  proud 
satisfaction  of  paying  up  all  old  scores."  So 
Sandy,  nothing  loth,  took  the  roll  of  bills  and 
marched  bravely  up  to  the  clerk's  office  and  paid 
the  money  due.  The  handsome  clerk  looked  ap- 
provingly at  the  boy,  and  said:  "Found  your 
friends?  Good  boy!  Well,  I  wish  you  good 
luck." 

The  barkeeper  said  he  had  forgotten  all  about 
the  pack  of  cards  that  he  had  trusted  Sandy  with, 
when  the  lad  gave  him  the  seventy-five  cents  due 
him.  "  I  can't  always  keep  account  of  these  little 
things,"  he  explained. 

"  But  you  don't  often  trust  anybody  with  cards 
coming  down  the  river,  do  you?"  asked  Sandy, 
surprised. 

"  Heaps,"  said  the  barkeeper. 

"  And  do  they  always  pay  ?  " 

"  Some  of  'em  does,  and  then  ag'in,  some  of  'em 
doesn't,"  replied  the  man,  as  with  a  yawn  he 
turned  away  to  rearrange  his  bottles  and  glasses. 

With  the  aid  of  a  lounger  on  the  landing,  whom 
they  thought  they  could  now  afford  to  fee  for  a 
quarter,  the  youngsters  soon  transferred  their  lug- 
gage from  the  "  New  Lucy  "  to  the  little  ferry-boat 
near  at  hand.  To  their  great  pleasure,  they  found 


STRANDED  NEAR  HOME.  251 

on.  board  the  pleasant-faced  lady  from  Baltimore 
and  her  party.  She  was  apparently  quite  as  pleased 
to  meet  them,  and  she  expressed  her  regret  that 
they  were  not  going  eastward  on  the  train  with 
herself  and  sons.  "  We  have  had  such  a  pleasant 
trip  down  the  river  together,"  she  said.  "  And  you 
are  going  back  to  Illinois?  Will  you  return  to 
Kansas  in  the  spring  ?  " 

"We  cannot  tell  yet,"  replied  Charlie,  modestly. 
"That  all  depends  upon  how  things  look  in  the 
spring,  and  what  father  and  Uncle  Aleck  think 
about  it.  We  are  free-State  people,  and  we  want 
to  see  the  Territory  free,  you  see." 

The  pleasant-faced  lady's  forehead  was  just  a 
little  clouded  when  she  seM,  "  Ycu  will  have  your 
labor  lost,  if  you  go  to  Kansas,  then;  for  it  will  cer- 
tainly be  a  slave  State." 

They  soon  were  in  the  cars  with  their  tickets  for 
Dixon  bought,  and,  as  Sandy  exultingly  declared, 
paid  for,  and  their  baggage  checked  all  the  way 
through.  Then  Sandy  said,  "I'm  sorry  that  pretty 
lady  from  Baltimore  is  a  Border  Ruffian." 

The  other  two  boys  shouted  with  laughter,  and 
Oscar  cried:  "She's  no  Border  Ruffian.  She's  only 
pro-slavery;  and  so  is  Uncle  Oscar  and  lots  of  others. 
You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself  to  be  so  — 
what  is  it,  Charlie  ?  Intolerant,  that's  what  it  is." 

The  train  was  slowly  moving  from  the  rude  shed 
that  was  dignified  by  the  name  of  railroad  depot. 
Looking  back  at  the  river  with  their  heads  out  of 


252  THE  BOY  SETTLERS. 

the  windows,  for  the  track  lay  at  right  angles  with 
the  river-bank,  they  could  now  see  the  last  of  the 
noble  stream  on  which  they  had  taken  their  jour- 
ney downwards  from  "  bleeding  Kansas  "  by  the  Big 
Muddy.  They  were  nearing  home,  and  their  hearts 
were  all  the  lighter  for  the  trials  and  troubles 
through  which  they  had  so  lately  passed. 

"  We  don't  cross  the  prairies  as  of  old  our  fathers 
crossed  the  sea,  any  more,  do  we,  Charlie  ?  "  said 
Oscar,  as  they  caught  their  last  glimpse  of  the 
mighty  Mississippi. 

"  No,"  said  the  elder  lad.  "  We  may  not  be 
there  to  see  it ;  but  Kansas  will  be  the  homestead 
of  the  free,  for  all  that.  Mind  what  I  say." 


flfc 


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